Framingham man held on $200K bail, charged with raping 5-year-old
FRAMINGHAM - A Framingham man admitted to raping a 5-year-old family member last week and told police he had sexually assaulted the young girl at least one other time, a prosecutor said Wednesday in Framingham District Court.
Judge Robert Greco ordered Erick Figueroa, 22, held on $200,000 bail after Figueroa's arraignment on Wednesday.
Police began an investigation on Figueroa on Saturday after the parents of the young girl reported the assault. They said Figueroa, who is related to them, babysat the 5-year-old on Friday night.
On Saturday, the girl told her parents that Figueroa forced the girl to perform a sexual act on him, Jackson said. He then performed a sexual act on the girl, the prosecutor said.
The girl also told her parents that Figueroa showed her a video on his phone of a girl performing the same sexual act on him that she did, Jackson said.
The girl complained that her stomach hurt, so they brought her to the MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, where a sexual assault test was performed, Jackson said. The girl told staff members the same story, Jackson said.
Police questioned Figueroa on Tuesday at the police station. At first he denied it, the prosecutor said, but then he made a full confession to the Friday incident, and an unknown prior incident.
"He did disclose there was a prior incident a couple of weeks prior where he had the 5-year-old (perform a sexual act) on him in a bathroom," Jackson said.
Police arrested Figueroa at 7 p.m. and charged him with rape of a child, indecent assault and battery on a child younger than 14 and disseminating obscene matter to a child.
Jackson asked Greco to hold Figueroa on $250,000 bail.
"This is an extremely serious matter," she said.
Figueroa's lawyer, Michael Brennan, said his client had no criminal record, had a job and had no reason not to appear in court. He argued for $10,000 bail.
Along with the $200,000 bail, Greco ordered Figueroa to have no contact with the girl or her parents and to stay away from anyone younger than 18.
Figueroa is due back in court on May 1 for a pretrial conference.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date crime news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW.