Medford con man found guilty of rape at BRMC site
Published on November 14th, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - - A Middlesex Superior Court jury recently declared a 47-year-old Medford man guilty of raping a local woman in the parking lot of the former Boston Medical Regional Center (BRMC) nearly three years ago.
According to Middlesex District Attorney's office spokewoman Meredith Lerner, Medford resident Mark Powell, of Morrison Street, was convicted on Oct. 29 for two counts of rape, one count assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and a assault and battery charge.
"His sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 27 at 2 p.m.," said Lerner. "He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison."
The victim alleged that Powell posed as the proprietor of a modeling agency in Internet chat rooms and conned the victim into meeting him at the BRMC parking lot on Feb. 24, 2004. The Stoneham Independent does not identify rape victims due to the nature of the crime.
Authorities claim that the scheme was employed by the 47-year-old on multiple occasions in order to trick women into performing sexual favors in exchange for an opportunity to work for the fake modeling agency
"The suspect would contact women via the Internet on chatrooms and portray himself as owning a modeling agency. He would meet them in and around Stoneham near the zoo, the hospital, and the Medford area. He met a number of women over the years," said Stoneham Police Det. Robert McKinnon, the lead local investigator in the case.
"He would then meet them and want them to perform a sexual act. That was part of the deal," McKinnon continued. "They would perform that service with part of the agreement being that he would hire them."
According to investigators, on Feb. 24, the victim became wary of her encounter with Powell, and refused to perform any sexual acts - although she did reportedly give him money in order to be represented at the modeling agency.
The six-foot tall, 315-pound Medford man, authorities say, responded to that denial by raping the frightened woman. The victim, after coming forward, later identified Powell, who was arrested in April of 2004 for the assault.
According to McKinnon, although the Medford man has now been convicted for rape, he hopes that additional victims come forward to see that further justice is served.
"I don't know the true numbers of women he actually met and had sex with, but I'm sure this wasn't his first time," the detective said. "My reason for putting this story out there is for any other woman who may have run across him and was afraid to come out."
Celebrating the convicted rapist's recent guilty finding, McKinnon characterized rape cases as particularly difficult to prosecute and investigate, as victims are often frightened to come forward and later reluctant to testify in a trial where their reputation is often attacked and smeared by defense attorneys.
"It's a good win for us, because with rape cases, you can never be sure of the outcome," the local investigator explained. "There was a lot of diligence and hard work from this police department on this case."
"She [the victim] was a very good witness. She made it through the whole case, and a lot of times, they can't because they're traumatized. A lot of [victims] also don't want to come forward because they have to defend themselves."
If anyone suspects that they have been victimized by Powell and wishes to come forward, Stoneham Police Det. McKinnon can be contacted directly at 781-438-1215, ext. 3147.
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