Bail increased for Haitian migrants

A Haitian migrant accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in a Rockland hotel has a new bail that is 300 times more than before.

The increase – of A $500 bond will be set in June up to $150,000 without security — will prevent immigration officials from deporting Cory Alvarez, 26, back to his home country on Halloween, as they had planned. It will also give prosecutors time to continue their case against him, according to a statement from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. The state had requested a $10,000 bond, with conditions, in June.

He has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape of a child with a 10-year age difference and rape of a child by force.

A surety bond occurs when a surety pays the bail amount for a fee, usually 10% of the cost of the bail bond. The defendant promises the serf that they will appear in court. The 10% is non-refundable and the defendant or family members are liable for the full amount if the person does not appear at the required court hearing.

Alvarez was indicted by a Superior Court grand jury May 21 and arraigned on May 31. Brockton Superior Court Judge Mary Sullivan, who set bail, said at the time that $500 was a significant amount of money for someone with no income.

Alvarez had been released on $500 bail and was staying in Brockton at the home of a friend’s relative when members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations team picked him up outside the home on August 13 after the court ignored an ICE request to notify them of his release.

He has been held at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility since then, but has been in court for his hearings, with the exception of one on August 13, the day he was first held.

The district attorney’s office said ICE notified them of their deportation plans on Oct. 4, which in turn led to the filing of a motion to increase bail.

“Without an increase in bail, the defendant, an alleged citizen of Haiti here in the United States under the U.S. Immigration Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan Parole Program, will be removed from the United States on October 31st. Such a scenario would halt the case indefinitely and make any resolution impossible for either the alleged victim or the defendant,” the filing said in part.

After an hour-long hearing Oct. 28 in Brockton Superior Court, Judge Elaine M. Buckley agreed with prosecutors. The $150,000 bond she imposed far exceeded the state’s request to hold Alvarez on $100,000 with conditions.

“The Commonwealth has a show of strength,” Buckley said during the hearing. “The court believes that justice requires an increase in bail.”

Alvarez is scheduled to appear in court on November 13 for a discovery status hearing.