Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
Multiple news agencies are reporting that a suspect has been placed into custody following a string of serious sexual assaults that have taken place at Boston’s esplanade over a period of about nine years or so. The suspect, whose identity has not yet been released to the public, has apparently been in police custody since this past December. The cause behind this course of action has not been made immediately available, but it can be assumed that law enforcement officials deemed it to be a necessary course of action based off of the man’s extensive history of sexual assault.
The unnamed suspect had been placed into police custody following a specific sexual assault that took place in December 2014. The man had been accused of raping a Cambridge woman, who has also not been identified at the current moment. The man in question allegedly used to be an Uber driver prior to this incident—and this form of employment is actually what led him to come in contact with the female from Cambridge he is accused of assaulting. According to initial reports, the woman contacted the suspect for an Uber ride to an exact destination she needed to reach. When the man picked her up however, he drove her off to a remote location in a secluded area instead and proceeded to sexually assault the victim inside of his car. The man also locked the doors of the vehicle at this time, preventing the woman from trying to escape. The suspect has officially been charged in relation to this particular assault, although the severity of the charges he faces is unknown.
This sort of alarming incident is one of many reasons why there has been a growing outcry against Uber and the service they provide to individuals. Customers of Uber anticipate being picked up by a friendly individual who will safely drive them to their location if they are unable to do so under their own accord. And while this service is immensely beneficial in terms of preventing individuals from driving under the influence by having someone else drive them instead, Uber drivers don’t need to pass any necessary tests before offering their services up on the phone based application. Perhaps if this suspect had been reviewed for the position prior to being able to become an Uber driver, this incident would not have occurred at all. Especially since this man has already assaulted multiple individuals in the past. He should not have been able to come in contact with the victim, or anyone else for that matter, under any circumstances.
The DNA that was acquired in connection to this incident has also seemingly linked the suspect to three other sexual assaults that took place along the esplanade in prior years. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office has stated that these other assaults date back to 2006—but specific times and dates have not been provided for any of the assaults the suspect is being accused of.
At 3:00 PM today, Tuesday July 14th, the District Attorney’s Office is holding a press conference in regards to the ongoing investigation and what has been discovered up until the point. The exact nature of the press conference and the information they will be providing has not been made readily available at this time.
*Preliminary reports can be found at the following links: http://www.whdh.com/story/29544924/man-in-custody-in-connection-with-esplanade-assaults
http://www.wcvb.com/news/former-uber-driver-accused-in-string-of-esplanade-assaults/34158354
