Cheldon Clare
Barnstable Police/CWN
HYANNIS – From the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s office: Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois announced Tuesday that on September 8, 2025, Cheldon Clare, 46 years old, of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, was sentenced in the Barnstable Superior Court to 12-14 years on sexual assault charges.
On September 6, 2021, a fourteen-year-old girl and her mother reported to Barnstable Police that she had been sexually assaulted by a family member, Cheldon Clare. The victim reported to police that Mr. Clare had driven from his home in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey to the victim’s home in Hyannis on the morning of August 27, 2021, and sexually assaulted her in his vehicle. Detectives obtained the defendant’s phone records which revealed that Mr. Clare groomed the victim for a month prior to the assault. Detectives determined that the defendant’s phone was located at the victim’s home on the day the sexual assault took place. Additionally, investigators located the defendant’s DNA on the victim’s pants.
The case was investigated by Barnstable Police Detective Andrew Johnson. Law enforcement from Bergen County, New Jersey also assisted with the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Dana Hatchell and Victoria Piacentini. Victim Witness Assistants Deb McCoy and Caitlin Carroll worked with the young victim.
After a 6-day trial and 2.5 hours of deliberations, a Barnstable Superior Court jury found Cheldon Clare guilty of Aggravated Rape of a Child and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over. The court sentenced the defendant to 12-14 years in state prison on a rape charge, 2 ½ – 3 ½ years to run concurrent on one count of indecent assault and battery and 5 years’ probation from and after the committed sentence on the other indecent assault and battery charge. Mr. Clare will be required to register a sex offender.
District Attorney Galibois acknowledges the bravery shown by the young victim and the commitment by the law enforcement officers to secure evidence in our pursuit of justice. My office will continue to stand with survivors and work alongside our law enforcement partners to hold offenders accountable.
