A man who was previously indicted on suspicion of raping a 15-year-old at a hotel that serves as an emergency shelter for migrant families in Rockland, Massachusetts, was arrested by federal immigration officials outside his home in Brockton, his attorney said Tuesday.
Cory B. Alvarez, who is from Haiti, is accused of the sexual assault of the teen at the Comfort Inn on Hingham Street on March 13, the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office said. A grand jury indicted him on a charge of aggravated rape of a child with 10-year age difference and rape of a child by force. The Comfort Inn was part of a government program to help house migrant families, prosecutors said at a previous court appearance.
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He had already pleaded not guilty to similar charges in Hingham District Court when he went before a judge in March.
Alvarez had been out on bail with GPS monitoring and was due in court on Tuesday. He was unable to appear after he was arrested by immigration officials based on a detainer. He is currently being held at the Plymouth County House of Correction, attorneys said in court Tuesday.
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The Commonwealth had hoped for the court to consider a motion to compel Alvarez to provide a DNA sample for their sexual assault case. Instead the judge agreed to a request from the defense to continue the case until next week to give attorney Brian Kelley a chance to try to file a motion to get his client back in court.
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.
That comes as a blow to the prosecution, which expressed their concern that Alvarez could be moved out of the state at any time.
“(If he) leaves the state with immigration or ultimately leaves the country it makes it increasingly more difficult for the Commonwealth to have access to him in order to obtain the sample," Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham said.
The case was continued to Aug. 22 for a status hearing and to hear the motion to compel.
Later Tuesday afternoon, the Plymouth County District Attorney released a statement confirming that Alvarez's arrest came as a surprise.
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apparently this morning, unbeknownst to our office, took Cory Alvarez into custody outside his house in Brockton. We came to court today prepared to move forward, and will continue to move forward with our rape case against Alvarez," the statement read in part.
The statement noted that it believes Alvarez was in the country as part of the Biden Administration Humanitarian Parole Program or Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans Program (CHNV).
"As part of the Alvarez case, for months now, our office has repeatedly asked questions of state and federal officials about specifics of the CHNV process. We have received little to no answers. There is clearly a reason that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has paused the issuance of travel authorizations for new CHNV beneficiaries while it undertakes a massive review of the process," the statement continued.
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston confirmed the arrest and said their original detainer was meant to be a means to cooperate with local officials.
According to ERO Boston, Alvarez entered the U.S. legally on June 26, 2023, but based on the state charges, violated the terms of his admittance. When federal officials learned of his arrest, they lodged an immigration detainer, which is a request that state or local officials keep a person in custody to allow federal immigration officials time to process a potential removal. However, ERO Boston said the Plymouth County Superior Court of Brockton "refused to honor" their detainer and released Alvarez on a $500 bond.
"Detainers are critical public safety tools because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved — ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, removable noncitizens and the public — by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community," their statement reads.
It's important to note that ERO Boston often works under the order of immigration judges through the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is separate from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
Rockland police were called to the hotel about 7:06 p.m. on the night of March 13, and officers found the alleged victim, who was taken to South Shore Hospital to be treated, prosecutors said. Alvarez was later taken into custody.
The teenager told investigators that she went back to Alvarez's room because he was helping her put apps on her tablet, according to court paperwork. That's when she was assaulted, she said.
She told the man "to leave me alone, but he didn't stop," the paperwork said.
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.
Alvarez was ordered to surrender his passport and have no contact with the teenager he was accused of assaulting.
Massachusetts has been working to house an influx of migrants that's strained the state's shelter system.
The system is currently at capacity with 7,500 families, which is what Healey implemented last year with hundreds more on a waiting list.
