Low bail set for migrant accused of Rockland hotel rape. He'll likely get out this week
BROCKTON − The man accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in a Rockland hotel will likely be released on bail this week.
Bail for Cory Alvarez was set at $500. If it's posted, he would be restricted to home confinement with a GPS monitor, his court-appointed lawyer, Brian Kelley, said after a dangerousness hearing Tuesday in Brockton Superior Court.
Alvarez, 26, has been in jail since his arrest March 13. He was indicted by a Superior Court grand jury May 21 and arraigned May 31. He has pleaded not guilty to one count each of aggravated rape of a child with a 10-year age difference and rape of a child by force. Authorities say the alleged crimes occurred at a hotel used as migrant housing in Rockland.
Plymouth County prosecutor Shanan Buckingham said Alvarez should be deemed dangerous and remain in jail. Buckingham suggested a $10,000 cash bail due to the seriousness of the charges with several conditions, including home confinement and a GPS monitor.
If released, Alvarez would be ordered to report to a probation officer twice a month. His next court appearance is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Aug. 13 at Brockton Superior Court.
Judge agrees with much of Alvarez's lawyer's arguments
Judge Susan Sullivan set the low bail after Alvarez's dangerousness hearing, which had spanned several hearing dates this month. She said his lack of a criminal record and the low likelihood he would be able to flee helped lead to her decision to deny the state's request to continue holding him.
She said the state had not met the "clear and convincing" legal threshold required to deny his bail request.
She agreed with Kelley that there are discrepancies in testimony from witnesses in the case and surveillance video. That includes video showing the 15-year-old entering Alvarez's room without visible coercion and leaving 8 minutes later with her clothing, hair and demeanor appearing to be the same as when she went into his room.
A rape kit processed at South Shore Hospital the night of police call showed male DNA. Prosecutors plan to seek a DNA sample from Alvarez to be compared with the sample collected from the accuser.
Alvarez will stay at the Brockton single-family home of the mother of his girlfriend.
He will be allowed to leave the home for church services, legal and medical appointments and job interviews. Judge Sullivan advised him to continue his Bible studies and English language courses remotely if possible.
He is to have no contact with the victim, who has since relocated to an undisclosed address.
More: Haitian migrant accused of rape in Rockland hotel continues to be held without bail
What the accuser told police
The 15-year-old, who had only been at the Rockland shelter for a few days with her father and his wife, wanted to install WhatsApp on her tablet but could not do so, her father said. His wife said she had spoken with a fellow guest who offered to have a look at it. That man, the father clarified in his testimony, was not Alvarez.
The man was unable to help, and details are fuzzy on how Alvarez, who was staying on the floor above the accuser, became involved in the situation. Kelley entered a screenshot into evidence last week showing the accuser walking up to the second floor with her tablet in hand.
The girl told police she ended up in Alvarez's room. She said he asked her if she had a boyfriend before pushing her down on the bed and having nonconsensual sex with her.
Before police were called at about 7 p.m., about four hours after she said the rape occurred, the 15-year-old told her sister in Haiti what she said happened. The sister told the girl's father.
After someone called the police, the girl was briefly interviewed and examined at the shelter before being taken to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, where she was examined more thoroughly and further interviewed.
Police then returned to the shelter and arrested Alvarez.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Rockland motel rape suspect cash bail set
