ELLSWORTH — A man living in Hancock County who was arrested his month on as a fugitive from justice has been charged in two unsolved Massachusetts rape cases from the 1990s, Massachusetts authorities said.
Ivan Keith Photo courtesy of the Hancock County Jail
Maine State Police Detective Greg Roy took Ivan Keith, 61, into custody at his Tremont home just before noon on Aug. 2. He was held at the Hancock County Jail until being extradited to Massachusetts last weekend.
Keith was living under an assumed name in Maine and is accused of raping two women in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the 1990s, NBC Boston reported.
Prosecutors said Keith has been linked to two other unsolved rapes in neighboring counties and that he failed to comply with conditions of the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board stemming from earlier charges.
Keith has been linked to unsolved rape cases in Norfolk County and Plymouth County from 1996, the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office said.
NBC Boston reported that after multiple convictions for sex-related crimes in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as another in Maine in 2000, Keith did not provide a DNA sample to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board. He did not appear for a 2003 trial date in Brockton District Court.
The Bristol County DA’s Office said that early this year it began reviewing cold cases that occurred in Taunton and Easton, NBC Boston reported. In July, the office applied for an arrest warrant for Keith on the grounds that he failed to register as a sex offender and made false statements.
Massachusetts is charging Keith with five counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of threats to commit bodily harm, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, the TV station reported. Keith also is charged with breaking and entering in the night with intent to commit a felony, failure to register as a sex offender, perjury and making false statements
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