The Worcester man indicted last week for the 2010 rape of a woman in New Bedford will remain in custody following a dangerousness hearing today in Fall River, although the judge has not officially decided on the matter just yet.

According to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, Judge Gregory White “took the matter under advisement and ordered that the defendant continue to be held without bail pending his eventual ruling on dangerousness.” The hearing took about 30 minutes.

Trudeau was charged with aggravated rape and assault and battery in an indicment that came about through Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III’s Rape Kit Initiative, in which rape kits that were not processed at the time of the incidents are now being tested in order to solve the cold cases.

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Trudeau is accused of violently attacking a 23-year-old woman who was walking along Coffin Avenue in the city’s North End on March 18, 2010, along with another man. After she was struck in the head and dragged to a secluded area, Trudeau is alleged to have raped her. The woman went to St. Luke’s Hospital and submitted to a rape kit, but it was among more than 1,100 rape kits from Bristol County that were never fully tested by the state lab, the D.A.’ Office said.

Through a federal grant, the D.A.’s Office was able to have the kit fully tested, leading to the charges against Trudeau. Trudeau is currently on federal probation after serving a federal sentence for attempting to travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

Massachusetts Unresolved Cases Playing Cards

Playing cards are being distributed to inmates in Massachusetts correctional facilities depicting the victims of unsolved murders and disappearances in the hopes that some inmates may recognize them and help bring closure to their cases.

The Victims in the New Bedford Highway Murders

The New Bedford highway murders took place in 1988, with the bodies discovered into 1989. The killer is confirmed to have killed nine women and suspected of murdering at least two more. Although there were at least three different men considered as suspects by the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, the murders remain unsolved and the families of the victims are still searching for closure. The cases are all featured on the unsolved cases page of the Bristol County District Attorney's Office website.

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