MEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - A Level 3 sex offender accused of kidnapping two young twin sisters in Cambridge is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing next month.
Lional Ivan Brathwaite Jr., 52, appeared in Cambridge District Court Tuesday after police arrested and charged him with two counts of kidnapping on Saturday morning.
The homeless man, who has a lengthy criminal record including a 2013 rape conviction, approached two pre-teen sisters in the area of Pleasant and Auburn streets Wednesday around 5:30 p.m., asked them for directions and then grabbed one of the girls by the arm, police said.
Brathwaite allegedly told the girls, “I don’t want to hurt you but if you run I’ll shoot you. If you tell the police, I’ll kill you.”
Cambridge police say Brathwaite walked them down several streets and “was looking for them to go down the alley.”
When they said no, Brathwaite allegedly released the girl’s arm and the two sisters fled.
He has a dangerousness hearing scheduled for March 1.
Cambridge police are still investigating another report of a woman who said an unknown man followed her 17-year-old daughter home from Central Square on Feb. 3.
He was described as a white or light-skinned man with a noticeable scar on his bald head.
Police say they do not believe the two cases are related.
Anyone with information is asked to call Cambridge Police at 617-349-3300.
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