Fall River Man Sentenced for Raping, Prostituting Daughter

FALL RIVER — A 39-year-old Fall River man who took part in multiple rapes of a juvenile female and also assisted in prostituting the girl for drugs and money was sentenced to serve 30 to 40 years in state prison after pleading guilty to six indictments in Fall River Superior Court this week, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Gabriel Machado pleaded guilty to indictments charging him with human trafficking of a child under 18, rape of a child aggravated by age, posing a child in nude, possession of child porn, and custodial interference by a relative.

On February 24, 2016, the victim ran away from her guardian’s home to the Fall River home of defendant Gabriel Machado and co-defendant Tracey Fortier. Police searched for the victim for 10 months. Their efforts included multiple visits to Machado’s home. It is alleged that the defendants lied to police about the girl’s whereabouts.

The victim was offered drugs and encouraged to have sex with Fortier. A video was found by police of the victim performing a sex act on Machado. Multiple images and videos were also found by police showing the victim and Fortier engaged in sexual acts. In addition, police discovered a video and images of Fortier and the victim at another man’s apartment engaging in sex acts. Messages connected to the images and the victim’s own statements corroborate that this encounter was one in which sexual acts were exchanged for drugs and money at the request of Machado.

The investigation revealed that the victim’s father, Gabriel Machado, helped arrange and negotiate the price and orchestrated prostituting the underage victim on multiple occasions. The victim was eventually located by police in Machado’s home on December 15, 2016, after receiving a tip regarding her location.

The case was prosecuted by Second Assistant District Attorney Silvia Rudman and Assistant District Attorney Casey Smith. The 30-40 year state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Renee Dupuis. Judge Dupuis also placed the defendant on supervised probation for 10 years after his release from state prison.

Fortier was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in state prison for her role in the crimes back in October.

“The defendant engaged in some of the most depraved and despicable conduct that I have ever seen. The victim should have been enjoying her teenage years instead of, as the investigation revealed, being repeatedly abused by her father, who should have been protecting her,” District Attorney Thomas Quinn said. “In addition, her father allowed others to sexually abuse her and on top of it videotaped some of the assaults. I support the lengthy prison sentence imposed by the court for this heinous conduct. I commend the victim for her perseverance in the most difficult of circumstances. I hope she can move forward with her life. She is a remarkable young woman. I would like the thank the prosecutors and members of the Fall River Police Department who investigated this case for bringing the defendant to justice.”

— Bristol County District Attorney’s Office