At his arraignment Monday, a man was ordered held on high bail in connection with alleged sexual assaults on two homeless women in Chelsea.
Osmar Flores, 23, appeared in Suffolk Superior Court Monday facing charges of aggravated rape, armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and strangulation related to an incident in July, as well as charges of rape, assault and battery, and strangulation tied to a 2015 case previously handled in Chelsea District Court.
Assistant District Attorney Myriam Feliz sought a bail amount of $100,000 and asked that Flores be placed under a stay-away order, prohibited from contacting the victims, and subjected to GPS monitoring and home confinement if released on bail. Clerk Magistrate Edward Curley set bail at $50,000 and imposed the requested conditions of release.
Feliz informed the court that the victim in the 2017 case met Flores sometime after midnight on July 18, 2017, in the vicinity of Bellingham Square in Chelsea.
Shortly after their initial meeting, Flores approached the victim and offered to walk with her and carry her bag as she headed to a bus stop. As they neared the Route 1 underpass, Flores seized the victim, sexually assaulted her, and strangled her until she lost consciousness, according to prosecutors.
Flores had already left by the time the victim regained consciousness. She was able to find nearby Chelsea Police officers and report the assault. Officers noted that the victim had a cut on her lip, facial bruising and blood, and marks on her neck and collarbone. She was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital for a sexual assault examination.
Security cameras in the area recorded footage of the victim walking with a man toward the overpass, followed by the man leaving the area alone after the assault. Flores was identified as that man in the images by a Chelsea Police officer who recognized him and had seen him earlier that day. In a post-Miranda interview with detectives, Flores allegedly admitted to being the man in the images, prosecutors said.
Flores had previously been charged in November 2015 in Chelsea District Court for an assault at the same location. After a dangerousness hearing and probation surrender, he was sentenced to two years in prison for violating the terms of his probation in a prior auto theft case. However, the sexual assault charges were dropped in 2016 due to prosecutors’ objections after the victim—who was also homeless—became unavailable. Suffolk prosecutors later located the victim and presented her testimony to the grand jury, leading to the indictments in the earlier assault.
The victim in that case was walking alone near the Route 1 underpass in Chelsea on Nov. 19, 2015, when Flores, who had been following her, asked for a lighter. As the victim reached into her pocket, Flores allegedly grabbed her and forced her onto a mattress in a nearby homeless encampment. He repeatedly struck the victim in the face and head, sexually assaulted and strangled her, according to prosecutors.
After the attack, Flores left the area, and the victim found a Chelsea Police officer to report the assault. She was taken to Whidden Memorial Hospital, where biological evidence from the attacker was collected during an exam. State Police criminalists created a unique DNA profile of the attacker, which was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. The database matched the profile to that of Flores, prosecutors said.
Sarah MacIsaac serves as the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Flores is represented by Richard Doyle. He is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 27.