BOSTON (WHDH) - BOSTON (WHDH) – A Swampscott man accused of raping five prostitutes at gunpoint in Boston has been ordered held $175,000 cash bail on indictments charging 12 counts of aggravated rape, six counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and single counts of rape and aggravated kidnapping, officials said.
Joseph Losano, 52, was arrested Thursday and arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on a 20-count indictment stemming from alleged assaults on five women working as prostitutes in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, according to a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office.
Losano, who had previously been charged in Roxbury District Court in connection with two alleged rapes, served in the Iraq War and came back to the United States with hopes of becoming a Swampscott police officer or New Hampshire state police trooper, lawyers said.
“These allegations are chilling,” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement. “They suggest a pattern of assaults on women who might be afraid or reluctant to disclose sexual violence to law enforcement. But no matter who you are, we’re here to help you. Any survivor of sexual assault will find a safe, respectful, and victim-centered environment in our office.”
New Hampshire state police denied his application, calling him “cocky” and “somewhat violent,” prosecutors added.
A Swampscott school official told 7News that Losano worked as a substitute teacher in the district from January 2017 to March 2017. Prosecutors said he also tried to become a police officer, but his bid was rejected because he was said to be “cocky about being violent” and “somewhat separated from reality.”
Anyone who may have been victimized by Losano is urged to come forward and contact the Boston Police Sexual Assault Unit at 617-343-4400.
Losano is due back in court July 25.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)