No New Trial For Burlington Man Convicted Of Rapes, Robberies

BOSTON, MA -- Renaldo Prado, who was convicted of raping and robbing prostitutes in Burlington and Tewksbury hotels after arranging meetings through online service, will not get a new trial. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower court's decision to deny Prado's request for a new trial in the trial where a jury convicted him of one count of aggravated rape, three counts of armed robbery and three counts of witness intimidation.

In January 2009, Prado, of Burlington, arranged meetings with women who listed sexual services for a fee on Craigslist. At the meetings with two women, one in Tewksbury and one in Burlington, Prado robbed them at gunpoint and threatened to kill them if they contacted police. One of the woman was forced to digitally penetrate herself at gunpoint as Prado watched.

Prado's request for a new trial stemmed from his 2016 argument digital penetration did not meet the state's definition of rape. "The facts of this case epitomize...an intrusion into another's (i.e., the victim's) genital opening, by an object -- the victim's own fingers -- committed through the force of the defendant," the high court wrote in its ruling.

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Patch file photo via Shutterstock.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).