A 26-year-old man from Augusta, Maine, who told police he had been sleeping overnight in an Andover park has been sentenced to 12 to 15 years in state prison for attacking two women within about 11 hours of each other last summer. Roger Bolens pleaded guilty to 12 charges stemming from a restaurant restroom assault on a 19-year-old woman and a violent home invasion hours later against a sleeping 74-year-old woman.
The first attack happened around 2 p.m. on July 26, 2025, inside the restroom of Karma, a restaurant at 209 N. Main St. in Andover, according to CNHI. Prosecutors say Bolens tried to strangle the 19-year-old woman inside the restroom before she managed to break free, as reported by NBC Boston.
Roughly 11 hours later, around 1:15 a.m. on July 27, 2025, Bolens broke into a studio apartment on Lewis Street and attacked a sleeping woman in her 70s. Per the same CNHI account, the assault lasted about 20 minutes before the victim, identified as 74 years old, was transported to Lawrence General Hospital. NBC Boston reports Bolens admitted to smothering the woman's face with a pillow, punching her, dragging her, beating her head against the floor and a refrigerator, and stomping on her face with a shod foot. The second victim was seriously injured, according to the outlet.
Homeless in Andover, Now Facing Decades Behind Bars
Bolens told investigators after his arrest that he was homeless and had been sleeping overnight in a public park in Andover, the CNHI report notes. He was initially held on $250,000 cash bail before a judge ordered him held without bail following a dangerousness hearing in Essex Superior Court, according to the same account.
Bolens ultimately pleaded guilty to a wide-ranging set of charges, including home invasion, breaking and entering in the nighttime for purposes of a felony, strangulation or suffocation, assault and battery, attempt to commit a crime, and four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a victim 60 or older. He also pleaded guilty to armed assault to murder a person 60 or older, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, and assault and battery with injury to a person 60 or older, per NBC Boston.
Sentence Breaks Down Across Multiple Convictions
A judge sentenced Bolens to 12 to 15 years in prison for armed assault to murder, according to the Essex County District Attorney's Office as cited by NBC Boston. He also received eight to 10 years for the breaking and entering charge and two assault and battery charges, with those sentences set to run concurrently. Prosecutors say Bolens faces five years of probation after his release from prison.
Under the terms outlined by Patch, that probation period requires Bolens to stay away from both victims, avoid any direct or indirect contact with them, and undergo mandatory mental health treatment if ordered by probation officials. The conditions are designed to protect the victims once Bolens is eventually released.
How the Sentence Compares to Statutory Maximums
The 12-to-15-year term for armed assault to murder falls well short of the statutory ceiling. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265, Section 18, a conviction for armed assault with intent to murder carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in state prison, according to the Law Office of Matthew Peterson.
The home invasion charge carried even steeper potential exposure. Under Chapter 265, Section 18C, a home invasion conviction carries a potential maximum of up to life in prison, with a statutory baseline of 20 years, according to the Bonavita law-office page. Massachusetts Superior Court cases proceed by grand-jury indictment, while District Courts cannot impose state-prison terms, per the Serpa Law Office.
Investigators and Attorneys Behind the Case
The Essex County District Attorney's Office credited the Andover Police Department with leading the investigation that identified and captured Bolens, specifically highlighting the work of retired Detective Robin Cataldo and Detective David Milne, according to a statement from the Essex County District Attorney's Office. Investigators linked both attacks, committed hours apart, to the same suspect.
The prosecution was handled on behalf of the Commonwealth by veteran Essex Assistant District Attorney Kate Berrigan MacDougall, while Bolens was represented by Methuen-based defense attorney Valerie Fallica, according to the CNHI report. Bolens pleaded guilty to all 12 counts.
