Man accused of raping 15-year-old in Rockland shelter held without bail
HINGHAM — A 26-year-old Haitian national was ordered held without bail Friday for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl at a Rockland hotel being used as a shelter for migrants.
At a dangerousness hearing in Hingham District Court, Judge Heather Bradley ruled that Cory B. Alvarez will remain in custody for up to 120 days after prosecutors outlined the accusations against him.
“I do find that the Commonwealth has met their burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant poses a danger to the alleged victim, a minor child, and to the community at large,” Bradley said.
Alvarez has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape of a child by force. The girl, who is also from Haiti, identified Alvarez as the perpetrator of the attack at a Comfort Inn, prosecutors said.
On Friday, Sergeant Detective Gregory Pigeon of the Rockland Police Department testified that a hotel clerk called 911 on March 13 to report the alleged assault.
The police officers who initially responded “told me that through an interpreter, the victim had alleged that she was brought to the suspect’s room and that he penetrated her. And she did make an identification of the suspect. She pointed him out in the hallway to the officers.”
The girl had gone to a group of women in the lobby and informed them of the alleged rape, and the officers used two translators, one who spoke English to Spanish and another who translated Spanish to Haitian Creole, to “get the victim’s story.”
The girl gave the clothes she was wearing at the time of the incident
to police, who also collected bedding from Alvarez’s room as evidence, Pigeon said. Testing on the girl’s clothing and the bed linens is pending, officials said.
The girl was brought to South Shore Hospital, where her father told Pigeon his daughter’s account. She had told him that she “was brought to the suspect’s room, and he pushed her on the bed, pulled down her underwear, and penetrated her,” Pigeon said.
The girl later told Pigeon through a translator that “he raped me,” Pigeon testified.
Alvarez voluntarily agreed to go to the police station for questioning, Pigeon said.
He was booked with help from a Brockton officer who speaks Haitian Creole, and he agreed to speak with police through that officer’s translation after receiving his Miranda warnings, Pigeon said.
Alvarez told police the girl had been in his room and that he was trying to fix her iPad but could not, so he let her use his phone to call her mother, Pigeon said. She then left the room without incident.
Pigeon said that video from the hotel shows the girl entering
Alvarez’s room with “some sort of tablet, or some sort of device in her hand” and that she leaves several minutes later.
Alvarez exits the room shortly thereafter, Pigeon said. He “had changed his clothing and was now wearing a red hooded sweatshirt,” he said.
Under cross-examination, Alvarez’s lawyer, Brian A. Kelley, asked Pigeon if the girl’s clothes in the video are “exactly the same” when she leaves Alvarez’s room as when she enters.
“And she walked right by two members of the National Guard,” Kelley said. “She says nothing to them.”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Pigeon replied.
Kelley said “her clothing is not disturbed at all” in the video when she exits Alvarez’s room.
“It doesn’t appear to be,” Pigeon said.
Kelley also had Pigeon read an excerpt from a Department of Children and Families report, which said a sexual assault examiner “did not see physical injuries” to the child.
Pigeon said Alvarez denied “any sexual contact” with the girl during his interview. He said Alvarez told police he had spoken to her mother after the allegation came to light.
“He did make a statement that the mother stated that the daughter may have some mental health issues,” Pigeon said. “He didn’t specifically say what that exactly was.”
Records indicate the teen entered Alvarez’s room at 3:15 p.m. and left at 3:23 p.m. Alvarez leaves the room 10 minutes later, according to filings and testimony.
“So a good 10 minutes goes by before he comes out with some different clothes?” Kelley said.
“Yes,” Pigeon said.
Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham said the video footage shows Alvarez acting suspiciously before the girl leaves his room.
“Seconds prior to her exiting his room, he peeks his head out and looks both ways before she then exits and goes down the hallway in a complete opposite direction,” Buckingham said. “Several minutes after that he exits his room, now in completely different clothes — sweatshirt, pants, all different — and goes back in the opposite direction of the victim.”
According to federal immigration officials, Alvarez is a Haitian citizen who lawfully arrived in the United States in New York on June 26, 2023. He had a Florida identification card when he was arrested, according to Rockland police.
Alvarez and the teenager had been living at the shelter since October but did not know each other before that, according to court records.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed an immigration detainer against him with the Plymouth County Sheriff ’s Office, according to a spokesperson. The procedure is used to take noncitizens accused of a crime into custody if they are released by local authorities.