Fall River Woman Sentenced for Rape and Prostitution of Juvenile Female

FALL RIVER — A 32-year-old Fall River woman 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 10 to 15 years in state prison after pleading guilty to three indictments in Fall River Superior Court last Friday, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Tracy Fortier pleaded guilty to indictments charging her with aggravated rape of a child, human trafficking of a child under 18 years old and posing a child in the nude.

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

The victim was offered drugs and encouraged to have sex with Fortier. Multiple images were found by police showing the victim and this defendant engaged in sexual acts. Police also discovered a video and images of this defendant 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.

It is alleged that Machado helped arrange and negotiate the price. Fortier was a full participant in prostituting the underage victim. The victim was eventually located by police in defendant Machado’s home on December 15, 2016, after receiving a tip regarding her location.

Machado’s case is still open at this time and is scheduled for trial on December 8. He is charged with trafficking a person for servitude, aggravated rape of a child, posing a child in sexual acts, possession of child pornography and kidnapping a minor by a relative.

The case against Fortier was prosecuted by Second Assistant District Attorney Silvia Rudman and Assistant District Attorney Casey Smith. The 10-15 year state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Renee Dupuis. Judge Dupuis also placed the defendant on supervised probation for 20 years.

“This is an outrageous case of sexual abuse and selling of a young girl for sex. The gravity of the case speaks for itself. I was moved by the victim’s emotional impact statement to the court, in which she described the profound impact this has had on her. I hope she can begin to move forward with her life,” District Attorney Quinn said.

— Bristol County District Attorney’s Office