For Immediate Release April 18, 2008                                          
Contact: Corey Welford/Jessica Venezia 781-897-8325
 
Somerville Man Found Guilty Of Raping And Assaulting Residents Of Cambridge Homeless Shelter

WOBURN – Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone’s office informed the public today that a Somerville man was found guilty of raping and assaulting female residents in the housing shelter where he worked.

Manfred Elangwe, of Somerville, was found guilty by a Middlesex Supeior Court jury of rape, assault and battery, and annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex. He was found not guilty on other charges of assault and battery, assault, and two counts of annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex.

Elangwe will be sentenced on Wednesday, April 23, by Judge Sandra Hamlin in Woburn Superior Court.  

“Today, a sexual predator is behind bars,” District Attorney Leone said. “These women sought refuge and solace in a homeless shelter, only to have the defendant take advantage of his position of authority to rape one victim and assault another in front of her young children.  I commend the victims’ courage for disclosing and reporting these assaults and then staying with this case for more than three years.”

According to authorities, on July 25, 2004, the defendant raped a resident of the Hildebrand Family Shelter in Cambridge where he worked as the House Manager. The defendant forced himself on the victim as she was watching television, slamming her head against a window and forcibly holding her down against her will. After the rape, the defendant told the victim that he knew the system and that no one would believe her because she was homeless.  The defendant continued to harass women in the shelter after the rape. An investigation was conducted by the Cambridge Police Department, the Department of Transitional Assistance, and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

Elangwe was indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury on May 2, 2005 and arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on July 28, 2005. 

The prosecutor assigned to this case is Assistant District Attorney Suzanne Kontz and the Victim Witness Advocate is Kara Grant.

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