BOSTON (WHDH) – A former Swampscott substitute teacher was arrested Tuesday for allegedly raping two women at gunpoint in Boston last year.
Joseph Losano, 51, was arraigned on two counts of rape Wednesday in Roxbury Municipal Court and ordered held on $50,000.
Losano allegedly took two prostitutes into his pickup truck before sexually assaulting them at gunpoint on a mattress in the bed of his truck. He then allegedly threw money at them.
Prosecutors said one of the women was picked up on Massachusetts Avenue near Melnea Cass Boulevard and the other near Boston Medical Center on a different day.
“Even if somebody is engaged in prostitution, they don’t get paid to be assaulted and threatened with a gun,” said Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum.
Polumbaum said Losano may have victimized more women.
“Other people have come forward and reported similar incidents,” Polumbaum said. “We’re not in a position to charge anybody at this point.”
Prosecutors said Losano 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. A Swampscott school official told 7News that Losano worked as a substitute teacher in the district from January 2017 to March 2017, the same year he allegedly raped the two women.
Prosecutors said he also tried to become a police officer in several departments. His bid was rejected by New Hampshire State Police because he was said to be “cocky about being violent” and “somewhat separated from reality.” Losano sued Swampscott Police after he was rejected; according to federal paperwork for that lawsuit, Losano has a violent past and reportedly used mace on two people. When asked if he had bit off a portion of a person’s ear during a fight, Losano responded, “That might have happened,” according to the paperwork.
If he posts bail, a judge ordered that Losano stay away from and have no contact with the two women. He is due back in court June 19.
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.
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