Man charged with child rape at Oxford foster home

WORCESTER -- A Rhode Island man was arraigned on child rape charges in Dudley District Court Thursday following allegations that multiple foster children were physically and sexually abused inside an Oxford home for years.

Philip Paquette, 59, is accused of twice forcing a foster child to perform oral sex on him nearly 20 years ago. The child, now incarcerated, told investigators that Paquette also made him eat dog feces and forced him to eat peanut butter sandwiches he believed had been topped with a bodily fluid.

The abuse allegedly took place in the early 2000s inside 7 Pleasant Court, where authorities allege several children were sexually assaulted, forced into cages and beaten.

Paquette is the third person to be charged with abuse after a WCVB-TV investigation into allegations made by multiple former foster children.

The home at 7 Pleasant Court is owned by Susan E. Blouin, Paquette's former girlfriend. Blouin and her husband, Raymond Blouin, have also been charged.

Susan Blouin, a registered nurse, was arraigned Monday on a charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14, while her husband was charged with the same crime in September.

The charges represent the second time Raymond Blouin has been charged with sexually assaulting foster children at 7 Pleasant Court. He was convicted in 2003 of indecent assault and battery on a person under age 14 and indecent assault and battery on a person over age 14.

Blouin received three years of probation after pleading guilty, court records show.

"I can not believe that the man that adopted me could actually touch me and do what he did in the shower," one of his victims wrote in her victim impact statement. "It also hurts to see nothing being done to him, like jail time."

The other victim wrote in her statement, "I feel lonely that I don't have a father anymore. I also wish that I had a family that actually cares about me and loves me."

WCVB reported that Susan Blouin was allowed to keep fostering children after her husband's conviction after he reportedly moved out.

It was at that time, authorities allege, that Paquette, her boyfriend, began to engage in the conduct that led to Thursday's charges.

Police in a court document alleged that Paquette twice forced a foster child to perform oral sex on him, threatening to kill him after doing so the first time.

When the second assault was cut short by Susan Blouin returning home, the former foster child said Susan Blouin asked him if Paquette had "made him do anything sexual," which he denied for fear of his life.

In addition to alleging the sexual assault, the former foster child -- now an inmate at Souza-Baranowski prison -- alleged he was regularly forced to remain naked and was routinely fed dog food for breakfast.

Judge Michael P. Welsh ordered Paquette held on $15,000 bail. Paquette, who did not qualify for a court-appointed lawyer, had not yet hired an attorney to represent him as of Thursday morning.

Susan Blouin was released on personal recognizance Monday and is next due in court Jan. 24.

She is accused of pulling a foster child between the ages of 7 and 10 around a room by his testicles and beating him while he was naked after an incident in which he brought shotgun shells to school.

The former foster child could be the same person to make allegations against Paquette, as he was interviewed on the same day at the same prison, according to court records, and is listed in both cases as being between 3 and 10 years old during his time at the foster home.

The man told authorities that what happened to him traumatized him his entire life. He alleged Susan Blouin "tortured and abused" him and other foster kids in the home

Specifically, he alleged she made him walk around naked "all day and night," wear diapers until he was 10 even though he could use the toilet, physically abused him with and without weapons and made him sleep in a dog cage.

Raymond Blouin was released on personal recognizance Sept. 20, records show, after a former foster child accused him of abuse in July.

The former foster child alleged Raymond Blouin would lock him and his brother into a dog cage, put duct tape over their hands, ankles and eyes and "ask Susan to have sex with him [Raymond]."

The child, who said he lived at the home from between ages 7 and 13, further told authorities that he had problems wetting the bed, and that Raymond Blouin, when checking to see if he'd wet the bed, felt his body more than necessary, including by touching his genital area.

The child also told investigators that Susan Blouin forced him and another foster child to "stare at each other naked" as punishment for something.

"Susan then took a brown dog leash and brutely (sic) beat both him and (the other child) all over their body," Oxford police alleged.

The Blouins came to court together Monday, WCVB reported, and did not respond to the news station's requests for comment.

Worcester Probate Court records indicate both filed for divorce in 2003, but did not follow through.

Records on file in Dudley District Court show Susan Blouin applied for a restraining order against Raymond Blouin in 2002, alleging that her daughter told her he had touched her and rubbed her while she was showering.

"He even offered her $5 to let him do it," Susan Blouin wrote. "Having been hit by this man before I am in fear for my life and that of my children."

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