A migrant who was staying at a state-run shelter has been arrested for allegedly raping his 14-year-old daughter, according to officials.
The 42-year-old man has been charged with aggravated rape of a child for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor female victim who’s known to him, the Middlesex DA’s Office said on Monday.
The Herald is not naming the suspect to protect the girl’s identity.
The Herald has known about this alleged sexual assault incident for several months. The alleged sexual abuse at the Marlboro Holiday Inn was recorded as a “Serious Incident Report” by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities last May.
The shelter site run by Eliot Community Human Services had been investigating the pregnancy of the 14-year-old girl.
The father had reportedly impregnated his daughter in the past, according to the serious incident report.
“Her father has had sex with her multiple times, both on the journey to the U.S. and in the U.S.,” reads the report.
When the shelter removed the daughter from her father’s custody on an emergency basis, the man reportedly “got very agitated and started yelling at Eliot Staff.”
“The yelling and threatening gestures got so intense that (redacted) requested the police be called,” the report reads. “Police reported to the scene and calmed (the man) down.”
The shelter staff ended up kicking the man out of the shelter, and sent him to a Quincy shelter.
The man was arraigned on Monday in Marlboro District Court. The judge ordered him held, pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for this Friday.
This incident was featured in a massive batch of “Serious Incident” reports from the Bay State’s migrant-family shelter program. There have been disturbing incidents of physical and sexual assault in state-funded shelters since 2022.
The thousands of pages of reports from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities were obtained through a Herald public records request and appeal.
The reports — which expose incidents of child rape, domestic violence, brawls, drunkenness, drugs and more in the emergency housing shelter system — came as Gov. Maura Healey dealt with the fallout from a big drug and fentanyl bust in a Revere migrant hotel. The governor after that high-profile arrest ordered an inspection of state-run shelters.
The reports show that there has been a long list of troubling incidents in the shelter system for years.
One of those incidents involved Boston Police arresting an individual and charging him with drug trafficking. Staff were told that police found a gun, “900 pills and 9 bullets and 30 grams of cocaine,” the report reads.
In another incident, a girl was taking out the trash when she was almost abducted, according to a report.
“Some creep came up behind her, pinned her arm behind her and covered her mouth and proceeded to drag her down the street,” the report reads.
Also, an alleged sexual assault involving a child was reported. No criminal charges resulted from the alleged sexual assault, and therapy was recommended.
Since 2022, more than 15,000 families and about 48,000 individuals have been served in the shelter system.
“We place the highest priority on the safety and well-being of residents and do not tolerate violence of any kind,” an Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities spokesperson said in a previous statement. “Our shelter providers are required to immediately report serious incidents to local police so that perpetrators can be investigated and prosecuted, and people who pose safety threats are removed from the shelter system.
“We also continue to make safety improvements to our shelter system, including requiring 24-hour onsite staffing,” the spokesperson added.
The Healey administration has previously announced that it will be phasing out the use of hotels and moving people more quickly out of the shelter system and into stable housing.