Boston man with sex trafficking convictions vacated by SJC charged in brutal weekend rape, DA says

BOSTON — A Dorchester man whose sex trafficking convictions were vacated by the state’s highest court after he pleaded guilty to several charges in 2016 is accused of brutally beating and raping a woman in Boston over the weekend.

Anthony Dew, 42, was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing during his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court in Dorchester, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement on Tuesday. He is charged with aggravated rape.

In 2016, Dew pleaded guilty to numerous sex trafficking, assault, and drug charges and received a prison sentence of eight to 10 years, Hayden said.

Last year, a month after finishing his prison sentence, the Supreme Judicial Court vacated his conviction “due to ineffective counsel,” Hayden said.

The highest court in Massachusetts vacated sex trafficking convictions against Dew after the discovery of racist social media posts by his court-appointed attorney, the late Richard Doyle, WBUR reported last year. Dew is a Black man of Muslim faith.

“I’m extremely grateful that the court agreed with our position that Anthony’s constitutional rights were violated as a result of attorney Doyle’s racism and bigotry,” his attorney, Edward Gaffney, said last year after Dew was released on parole. “I’m pleased to see that the court takes racism seriously.”

Dew is now accused of brutally beating and raping a woman in a bloody and violent assault on Evelyn Street on Sunday.

Hayden on Tuesday decried the assault, pledging to bring the victim’s attacker to justice.

“This was a terrible, violent attack, and one likely to have lasting emotional and physical impacts on the victim. We will do everything we can to assist her now and as the case moves forward. The first step is to hold her attacker accountable for his intolerable conduct,” Hayden said Tuesday.

At about 2:12 a.m. Sunday, Boston Police responded to a disturbance on Evelyn Street.

When officers arrived, they could hear a woman screaming. Officers saw a woman in the walkway with her jeans pulled down to her ankles and a T-shirt soaked in what appeared to officers to be blood, pulled up, Hayden said.

Officers saw the victim’s face to be covered in blood and the victim was spitting up blood clots, Hayden said.

As officers approached the victim, she screamed “He raped me” and pointed to an apartment. The victim told police the man who attacked her, later identified as Dew, lived there and raped and beat her as she “went in and out” of consciousness, Hayden said.

The victim suffered bruises and abrasions all over her body and had swelling and bruising to her mouth, jaw, and both her eyes, Hayden said. She was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment.

Dew arrived while first responders were processing the scene. He became “verbally combative with officers, who noticed several scratches to his hand and face,” Hayden said. Dew was placed under arrest based on the victim’s description of her attacker.

Dew is due back in court for a dangerousness hearing on Friday.

Hayden urged victims of domestic or sexual violence to call 911 in an emergency.

SafeLink, a statewide domestic violence hotline, can be reached at 877-785-2020. SafeLink is answered by trained advocates 24/7 in English, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as TTY at 877-521-2601.

RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, can be reached at 800-656-4673.

Help is also available for members of the LGBTQ+ community experiencing domestic or intimate partner violence through The Network/La Red by calling 617-742-4911 or 800-832-1901.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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