Around New England

Migrant Charged With Raping Child At Rockland Hotel

March 16, 2024

A man was arrested in Rockland this week after police said he raped a child at a hotel that serves as a migrant shelter.

Cory B. Alvarez, 26, is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl on Hingham Street in Rockland, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday, according to NBC 10 Boston.

Alvarez pleaded not guilty to aggravated rape of a child on Thursday, March 14. A Hingham District Court Judge decided to hold him without bail pending a dangerous hearing set for Friday, March 22.

The reported victim was taken to South Shore Hospital after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13 for treatment.

Alvarez then had to surrender his passport and was given an order prohibiting him from contacting the girl.

Prosecutors say Alvarez got her to go back to his room because he was helping her put apps on a tablet, and that after she entered his room he raped her.

State Representative David DeCoste (R-Rockland) expressed his disgust over the reported incident in a press release from the Massachusetts Republican Party.

“I am absolutely appalled by the incident that took place in Rockland today,” DeCoste said in the written statement. “Above all, my heartfelt sympathies extend to the young girl who has reportedly been subjected to abuse. The Commonwealth has failed this young girl. I have 100% confidence in Chief Zeoli and his team in the Rockland police department to conduct a thorough investigation into this horrible crime.”

Nicholas Zeoli is chief of police in Rockland, a town of about 17,000 people about 17 miles southeast of Boston.

Massachusetts Republican Party chairman Amy Carnevale expressed a similar sentiment and said the state’s inability to handle the migrant crisis may result in more such incidents.

“This is an absolute nightmare scenario for this young girl and her family,” Carnevale said in the written statement. “I earnestly pray for her strength and resilience in the face of this appalling ordeal. I acknowledge the presence of well-intentioned and compassionate residents of Massachusetts who would like for the state to provide refuge for migrants during times of exigency. However, it is imperative to discern between appropriate and inappropriate methods of addressing this endeavor. The recent incident exemplifies our state’s struggle to effectively manage the migrant crisis, and the influx of additional migrants may exacerbate the likelihood of such distressing occurrences. There is a pressing need to revisit and amend the legislation pertaining to the right to shelter.”

The state’s 1983 right-to-shelter statute guarantees emergency assistance shelter at state government expense for families and for pregnant women, even if they are not in the country legally and with no residency requirement. Republicans in the state legislature have sought unsuccessfully to add a residency requirement.

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