A man has been sentenced to at least 25 years in prison for raping a woman in a McDonald’s bathroom, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Wednesday.

Shawn McClinton, 41, was convicted last week of aggravated rape, kidnapping and assault and battery for the 2018 incident. McClinton, who represented himself in the case, had requested four to five years in prison, which Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders denied.

“[McClinton] has not shown he’s capable of living in the commonwealth without committing crimes,” Sanders said. “He’s a very dangerous person … he picks his victims.”

On Feb. 19, 2018, the victim spent the day with McClinton and two other men. Eventually, the other two men left and McClinton and the woman went to a McDonald’s in Dorchester. While she was using the women’s bathroom, she heard a knock on the door and opened it to find McClinton.

McClinton then assaulted her and dragged her into the men’s restroom, where he raped her, hit her repeatedly, strangled her and threatened to kill her, officials said.

The victim was able to escape the bathroom wearing only a bra, and McClinton ran after her, officials said. She then ran back into the bathroom and locked the door until police arrived.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and daily panic attacks due to the incident.

“I feel as if Shawn McClinton tried to take my life away,” she said. “I went from having a lot of family and friends to cutting off every single relationship I had with both family and friends. Since the event I have really struggled to trust people.”

Hayden praised the woman for moving forward with the case and undergoing approximately 11 hours in court being cross-examined by McClinton.

“This survivor faced the ordeal of having to answer questions put forward by the person who victimized her. She did it with courage and grace,” Hayden said. “These cases are always difficult for survivors, and to see this woman face hours of questioning from the man who caused her such harm, and handle herself with such courage, was inspirational.”

McClinton had previously been convicted of rape in 2007 in Bristol County, and has been charged with rape and kidnapping from an August 2020 incident which occurred shortly after he was released on bail in the 2018 case.

His $15,000 bail had been paid by the Massachusetts Bail Fund, which said at the time that it bails out people in pretrial detention based on financial need “regardless of charge or court history” because it believes the practice is “harmful and racist.”

Then-District Attorney Rachael Rollins denounced the organization’s decision to bail out McClinton.

“I would have so much more respect for the Bail Fund if they had bailed him out and then let him stay in one of their homes,” she said. “Because that’s what family members and friends usually do when they bail a loved one out.”

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