A battalion chief with the Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety charged with continuous sexual assault of a girl under age 14 has a history of domestic violence, according to state court records.
Shawn Thomas Rogers, 52, was indicted Tuesday by a Maui grand jury and charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 years.
Rogers was arrested Wednesday. He did not respond to Honolulu Star-Advertiser messages seeking comment.
From Nov. 6, 2019, through Nov. 5, 2021, Rogers allegedly sexually assaulted the girl with his body and foreign objects when she was under 14, according to the indictment.
And then from Nov. 6, 2021, through April 7, 2022, Rogers allegedly continued his abuse of the girl when she was older than 14 but younger than 16, according to the indictment.
Rogers is scheduled to be arraigned and enter a plea June 12 before Maui Circuit Judge Peter T. Cahill.
His attorney, Brandon Segal, told the Star-Advertiser that the “allegations are 100% false and Shawn is innocent.”
“Shawn is a dedicated public servant who has committed his entire life and career to protecting others,” Segal said.
The mother of the sexual assault victim accused Rogers of domestic violence on June 22, filed a police report and secured a temporary restraining order against him.
Segal said the TRO allegations are also false.
On June 14 the victim “disclosed prior, multiple sexual assaults” from Rogers to her therapist, according to a June 22 petition for a protective order.
“The investigation is underway and they recommended an order of protection because of the severity of the abuse and history of violence toward my children,” the girl’s mother wrote.
Rogers was also the subject of a state Child Welfare Services investigation, according to state court records.
The victim’s mother previously had secured a restraining order against Rogers on May 16, 2022. That order was later dissolved after Rogers’ attorney convinced a judge that the victim’s mother had not met the burden of proof.
In April 2022, Rogers allegedly “abused” the sexual assault victim and her brother “verbally,” then he abused the girl “physically,” according to the 2023 petition.
The victim suffers from an “active eating disorder,” and Rogers yelled at her in April 2022 to “eat some f——g Oreos and pie.”
The girl suffers from depression and anxiety, according to her mother’s petition, and ingested a “Costco sized bottle of ibuprofen.”
Rogers allegedly found the girl unresponsive after she vomited and blacked out in her bedroom. Rogers allegedly “grabbed the back of her head by her hair and lifted her up, screaming” the girl’s name.
Rogers allegedly “threw water on her and put his foot on her rib cage back and forth violently, then threw her school uniform shirts at her and left her unconscious on the floor.”
The girl’s mother called 911 after Rogers ignored her for two hours, and the girl was airlifted to a hospital on Oahu for emergency treatment, according to state court records.
“Shawn is a veteran first responder and battalion chief. He doesn’t deny his actions that day or have an explanation for his rage and cruelty. Shawn reenacted the attack on me after drinking multiple alcoholic cocktails. He has little respect for women and children. I didn’t know of the sexual assaults of my daughter … until 6/14/2023,” the girl’s mother wrote in her June 2023 TRO petition.
MDFPS Chief Bradford Ventura told the Star- Advertiser in a statement Thursday that Rogers has been “temporarily reassigned to the department’s administration program.”
“We recognize the seriousness of these allegations, and this case is now in the hands of the court. We are not aware of any of the alleged charges occurring at the workplace, and were not aware of this or prior allegations, until they became public,” said Ventura.
A 25-year veteran of the department, Rogers has been arrested or cited for criminal and traffic violations at least eight times while working as a firefighter.
He was cited in 2009 for promotion of a detrimental drug, but the charge was dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors retained the right to refile the charge.
Rogers is also the subject of an ongoing paternity lawsuit to determine whether he is the father of a boy he shares with the mother of the sexual assault victim, according to state court records.
A hearing in that case is scheduled for June 20.
He was arrested Wednesday by officers with the Maui Police Department.
“Shawn Rogers was arrested and charged with sexual assault in the first degree and continuous sexual assault of a minor under 14 years old. He posted bail, which was set at $150,000,” Alana K. Pico, information and education specialist with the Maui Police Department, told the Star-Advertiser.
