Island Resident Arrested For Aggravated Rape

An island resident has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a minor.

Bryan Daniel Aidano Arevalo, 28, who has lived on Nantucket for three years, was arraigned Friday afternoon on July 11 charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 (two counts) and one charge of aggravated rape of a child with a 10 year age difference. Arevalo was held on $20,000 bail.

Communicating through an interpreter with the judge and his attorney, Arevalo had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf. He was ordered to return to court for a probable cause hearing on August 13 when his bail will be further discussed. Until that time, Arevalo will be held in the Barnstable House of Corrections.

According to the statement of facts submitted to the court, the Nantucket Police Department was contacted by the New York City Police Department on July 11 after the 12-year-old victim and her mother had gone to the NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn to report the sexual assault. A social worker then contacted NYPD detectives. The incident allegedly occurred while the woman and her daughter were visiting family on Nantucket.

Nantucket Police participated remotely in an interview with the victim conducted by Safe Horizon, a child advocacy center in Brooklyn, in which she described the alleged sexual assault by Arevalo, who is a relative.

During Friday's arraignment, the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s office asked Nantucket District Court Judge James Sullivan to set bail at $20,000 cash. The DA argued that based on the nature of the charges, particularly the aggravated rape charge and the fact it carries a 10-year mandatory minimum jail sentence in state prison without the possibility of parole, seeking bail at $20,000 was appropriate to ensure the defendant’s appearance.

Arevalo’s attorney Rob Moriarty argued that Arevalo’s bail be set at $2,500, which is the most he said Arevalo could afford. He said that while he understands the magnitude and severity of the charges, there was no need to implement bail at the level sought by prosecutors given that Arevalo has lived on the island for three years and never left the island while the charges were being investigated over the past two weeks. He added that based on the statement of facts, the charges being brought against Arevalo were done so solely on the word of the young victim with no corroboration from other witnesses. He argued Arevalo was not a risk to flee the island, and that he had no prior criminal record. 

“The purpose of bail is not to punish the defendant but to ensure his appearance in court,” Moriarty concluded.

Sullivan said due to the severity of the charges, he felt $20,000 cash bail was appropriate, but added that Arevalo’s bail could be revisited at his next court date.