Lynn roofer acquitted of Swampscott rape

SALEM – A Superior Court jury exonerated a Lynn roofer and father of two accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in a school park in Swampscott in 2007.Jonathan Silveira, 25, last known address of 75 Rockaway St., #1, Lynn, showed a sigh of relief as the forelady read aloud Monday afternoon that he was innocent of all charges lodged against him.The jury had the case for just about two hours before finding Silveira innocent of aggravated rape and two counts of rape of a child.The alleged victim, now 17, of Swampscott, told the jury that she met Silveira while working at a pizza parlor in Marblehead in 2007 and they began talking on their cell phones a couple of days before the incident.On the night of June 18 the girl, who was 15 at the time, met Silveira with her girlfriend near the Red Rock Bistro beach area in Swampscott.She and her girlfriend bought some Coca-Cola to mix liquor Silveira and his friends had brought.They all went to a playground at the Hadley School, just across the street from the restaurant and drank liquor.Then Silveira and the alleged victim separated from the crowd and began kissing.During the incident, she maintained that Silveira had unnaturally touched her twice and then an unknown black male appeared and raped her as Silveira held her down.Silveira, represented by attorney Neil N. Madden, insisted it “never happened,” that his client was innocent while explaining his client was on his cell phone and said he wanted to leave.He maintained that presence at the scene does not mean Silveira participated in the crime because he “backed off.””Your decision will decide his life,” Madden told the jury in his closing argument.He went on arguing that “the biggest issue in this case is credibility,” as he reminded the jury that there was no medical or physical evidence introduced by the commonwealth linking Silveira to the rape.Although the evidence introduced by prosecutor A.J. Camelio corroborated that the victim had been sexually assaulted, the DNA was not linked to Silveira.Camelio argued in his closing that Silveira knew the girl was 15, he was 23 and “should have known better.”He told jurors that the victim “got herself into a situation and made a bad decision that night,” as he asked the jury to find Silveira guilty as charged, but the three women and nine men on the jury felt otherwise.Silveira did not take the stand in his own defense at trial.Silveira was indicted by an Essex County grand jury in August 2007 and has been free on bail.Judge David A. Lowy presided over the four-day jury trial.