Raynham Man Sentenced to 30-Year State Prison Term for Child Rape

FALL RIVER — A Raynham man convicted of forcibly raping his step-daughter multiple times between 2011 and 2016 has been sentenced to serve a minimum of 30-years in state prison.

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office says that Judge Sharon Donatelle sentenced 49-year-old Felipe Gonzalez on Friday during a sentencing hearing in Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River.

Gonzalez was sentenced following a conviction by a jury of his peers on nine counts of rape of a child—aggravated by age, six counts of indecent assault and battery on a person under 14, one count of assault with intent to rape a child, one count of rape of a child by force, one count of intimidation of a witness and one count of assault and battery.

The crimes against the victim occurred between 2011 and 2013 in Avon, between 2013 and early 2016 in North Attleboro and for the remainder of 2016 in Raynham.

The defendant was arrested in August of 2016 after the victim began revealing the repeated sexual assaults she suffered at the hands of the defendant during her pre-teen years to distant relatives.

During the sentencing hearing, Assistant District Attorney Silvia Rudman and Matthew Friedel argued for a state prison term of 30-40 years, while the defense requested a more lenient 10 to 12 year state prison sentence.

Judge Donatelle sentenced Gonzalez to serve 30-years to 30-years and three days in state prison, meaning he must serve the full 30-year state prison term. The judge also placed the Gonzalez on supervised probation for three years, which would begin when the defendant is released from prison.

“This defendant preyed on the victim because of his relationship to her mother. The facts are particularly disturbing. The victim suffered through years of repeated sexual abuse,” Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said.

“Despite the trauma inflicted by the defendant, I hope she can move on from this ordeal. The defendant in this case deserves every bit of the sentence imposed by the court.”

Felipe Gonzalez will be in state prison until the year 2049.