Man suspected of raping teen in Rockland home released on bail

A man suspected of raping a teenage girl at a Rockland migrant shelter in March was released on bail Tuesday, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz’s office confirmed Friday.

Cory B. Alvarez of Haiti was charged with aggravated rape of a child with an age difference of 10 years and rape of a child by force, Cruz’s office said in an earlier statement. Alvarez was arraigned on those charges in early May and his case was transferred to the Superior Court.

He was released on $500 bail, although prosecutors had requested $10,000 bail for Alvarez, Cruz’s office said. Judge Susan E. Sullivan imposed a lower bail and ordered Alvarez to undergo GPS monitoring, stay at a home in Brockton, have no contact with the teenager, remain in Massachusetts, surrender his passport and all other travel documents to authorities and report to probation twice a month, according to the Boston Globe.

At his arraignment in Brockton Superior Court on May 31, Alvarez pleaded not guilty.

On the night of March 13, police went to the Comfort Inn in Rockland, 850 Hingham St., after hotel staff reported that a girl claimed she had been raped, Rockland police Sergeant Greg Pigeon testified in March in Hingham District Court during Alvarez’s dangerousness hearing. During that hearing, he was deemed dangerous and detained. Alvarez remains jailed without bail, Cruz’s office previously said.

The hotel has a contract with the state to provide housing for migrants. Rockland police took the girl to South Shore Hospital for treatment after she arrived at the hotel.

Alvarez entered the country legally and went through two background checks, his attorney Brian Kelley said in court, citing Gov. Maura Healey’s office. It was not clear how long Alvarez had been staying at the hotel, and Kelley said he had spent time in New York City before arriving in Massachusetts.

Both prosecutors and Kelley previously confirmed that the girl and Alvarez had no relationship prior to the assault allegations.

Before Alvarez was charged, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and its co-chair, California Republican Representative Tom McClintock, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding information about Alvarez.

“Criminal aliens are exploiting weaknesses in our nation’s immigration system to the detriment of the people of the United States,” the two lawmakers wrote. “The Biden administration’s border and immigration policies only increase the likelihood that criminal aliens will successfully enter and stay in the United States.”

Department of Homeland Security officials called the charges against Alvarez “abhorrent.”