Man suspected of rape denies $150,000 bail reduction, SJC says

The deposit amount for a Haitian man accused of raping teenage girl at a Comfort Inn in Rockland will not be reduced, a Supreme Court judge ruled.

On Friday, Associate Justice Serge Georges Jr. denied attorneys’ petition for Cory Alvarez, 26, to have his bail reduced from $150,000 to $500, according to Plymouth Country District Attorney Tim Cruz’s office in a statement.

Alvarez, from Haiti, was charged with both aggravated rape of a child 10 years in age and rape of a child by force, Cruz’s office said in an earlier statement. Alvarez was was indicted on these charges earlier in Mayand moved his case to a higher court.

“After the hearing, I conclude that the judge did not abuse her discretion by determining that this high amount is necessary to ensure the suspect’s appearance at trial,” Georges said in a statement. “…The defendant is subject to a threatened deportation order, which he has not challenged in any way, and it appears that if he is released on bail, he will be immediately removed from this country by federal authorities. In these circumstances, the judge rightly found it necessary to detain him until his trial by setting a bail amount in excess of what was affordable.”

Prosecutors requested an increase in Alvarez’s initial bail to $500 after learning of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities’ intent to deport Alvarez to Haiti before the resolution of his pending criminal case, Cruz’s office said.

On August 13, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Boston took Alvarez into custody and he has since been held in an ICE unit within the Plymouth County House of Corrections.

“We will continue to prosecute this case, especially to seek justice on behalf of the child victim, but also to ensure that both the victim and Alvarez have their day in court,” Cruz said in his statement.