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November 22, 2012

Salem man convicted of child rape

BY JULIE MANGANIS STAFF WRITER

SALEM — A former Salem man has been found guilty of repeated sexual assaults on a young relative, starting when she was just 9 years old, in her Salem apartment.

Wilfredo Alas, 33, was found guilty of child rape, attempted child rape, and two counts of indecent assault and battery yesterday following a four-day trial in Newburyport Superior Court, the Essex County district attorney’s office announced.

Alas and a second man, also related to the girl, Jesus Najarro, 39, were arrested and charged in 2009 after the girl disclosed abuse by both men over a five-year period.

The men had at various points lived with the girl and her family on Ward Street in Salem.

The girl had earlier reported being sexually abused by Alas, but she and her mother were “chastised” and intimidated into not reporting the incidents. Najarro subsequently began abusing the girl.

Najarro was convicted in February of child rape and is serving an eight- to 10-year prison term.

Alas is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday afternoon by Judge Richard Welch III. Child rape carries up to a life sentence.

Alas had been free prior to trial on $10,000 cash bail and a GPS bracelet. At one point in 2010, Alas asked a judge to let him off the bracelet because it was hindering his ability to find a new job and, defense lawyer Ray Buso also argued, it was causing “chafing” on his leg.

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