Former New Bedford Man Sentenced Up to 15 Years for Child Rape

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A former New Bedford man who was illegally in the country from Honduras has been sentenced to up to 12 to 15 years in state prison for raping a nine-year-old girl.

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said Marvin Pineda, 47, pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court to aggravated rape of a child, indecently touching a child and witness intimidation.

He was sentenced on March 24 to serve 12 to 15 years in state prison followed by 10 years of supervised probation.

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Quinn said Pineda knew the girl’s family from their native country of Honduras, and was at their home in New Bedford on October 10, 2020, for a family birthday party. At some point, the victim went upstairs to go to sleep along with her sister and Pineda’s two minor children. The victim shared one bed with her seven-year-old sister, while Pineda’s children shared the other bed in the same room.

The victim’s adult sister then saw Pineda in the room, hugging the victim. He claimed he was only saying hello because he had not seen her for some time.

Pineda spent the night on the family’s couch while his children slept in the bedroom; in the morning, it was learned he had awoken early and taken his two children from the home. The victim, meanwhile, reported he had entered her bedroom during the night and raped her.

She was taken to a local hospital, and a rape kit turned up Pineda’s sperm cells in a swab of her body.

Quinn said the victim’s seven-year-old sister, who was shared a bed with the victim at the time of the rape, was a witness to the rape and was able to identify Pineda’s genitals.

Pineda fled Massachusetts as of October 11, 2020; on October 18, he contacted the victim’s mother and “urged her not to pursue charges and offered her compensation,” according to Quinn. The mother reported the conversation to police.

Pineda was located in Texas in November 2020 and returned to Massachusetts. Quinn said he has similar charges involving a separate victim that are pending in North Carolina.

“The defendant took advantage of his access to the child in her bed sleeping next to her sister. The conduct of the defendant is reprehensible,” D.A. Quinn said. “On top of that, he immediately fled to Texas and tried to intimidate the victim’s mother.”

“The defendant has similar charges pending in North Carolina,” Quinn said. “This state prison sentence is well deserved, especially without the victim having to testify.”