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Prosecutors dropped rape charges against a man who was accused of attacking an 18-year-old woman on a ferry from Martha’s Vineyard to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, this month.
The Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to drop the charges after speaking with the victim and her family, a representative for prosecutors at NBC10 Boston and NECN said on Tuesday. The papers were filed Thursday.
The 20-year-old from Dorchester had been charged with two counts of rape, to which he pleaded not guilty in Falmouth District Court.
The incident happened on a Steamship Authority of Massachusetts ferry on Monday, July 7, authorities said. After the ship docked, the woman reported to Falmouth Police that she had been sexually assaulted.
Prosecutors previously said the man was returning to the Martha’s Vineyard ferry, where he delivered household appliances for his employer. After he and his co-worker parked their work truck, he reportedly proceeded to the common area on the third floor of the ferry, where he met the woman. She told police she accompanied him to the ferry parking lot, where he took her in the back of his company vehicle and forced her to have sex with him.
One person was arrested after a sexual assault was reported on a ferry.
He then allegedly left the wharf as a passenger in the commercial van truck. The victim reported the incident to the ferry and a description of the truck was broadcast on police radio. A state police officer located and stopped the vehicle on Route 28 north in Falmouth and took the man into custody.
The lawyer representing the man said in court that his client told him the meeting was consensual.
The Steamship Authority said it was cooperating with state police in their investigation.
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