LAWRENCE, MASS. (WHDH) - A man accused of kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl in Lawrence on Thursday was arraigned Friday
Police said they responded to a report of an abduction and sexual assault of a middle school student just after 10 a.m. Thursday. The girl, a student at South Lawrence Middle School, told police she was walking to school near Boxford and Phillips streets when she was grabbed from behind by a man now identified as 21-year-old Angel Mateo. The girl told police he forcibly carried her to an apartment on Phillips Street, where he raped her.
Police said Mateo held her against her will for more than two hours and then released her, threatening to find her if she told police.
The girl eventually made it to school where she told a teacher and contacted her mother. Police said the girl was very critical in helping them pinpoint who the suspect was by describing the interior of his home in detail. Police called the girl a “courageous young person.”
The girl was taken to the hospital, where she was treated and released. Later Thursday, the school also alerted parents through a voicemail.
Mateo was charged with kidnapping and aggravated statutory rape and additional charges were filed after another woman identified Mateo as the man who tried to rape her outside his apartment in May. He was on pre-trial probation for disseminating obscene material and police said he was wearing an ankle GPS-monitoring bracelet. He was arrested for that crime back in April.
Mateo allegedly told police he met the girl earlier in the week on social media and thought she was 18 years old. Police said they found pictures of the girl on Mateo’s phone.
Mateo’s landlords said they were in the process of evicting him and two other people who live with him, saying they are noisy at night and play loud music. Neighbors said police always seemed to be at his apartment.
Lawrence Police said they plan to review the list of those in the community with ankle bracelets to see if they live near or around schools in an effort to keep dangerous criminals out of neighborhoods.
Mateo is being held without bail. He is due back in court next week on a dangerousness hearing.
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