A 76-year-old Orleans man has been convicted of raping a child in a case that stretched across four years of the victim's childhood, from the summer after her fifth-grade year until she was in eighth grade. Richard Alberts was found guilty on three counts of aggravated rape of a child and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and a Massachusetts judge sentenced him to 12 to 14 years in prison followed by three years of probation.
According to NBC Boston, prosecutors said the abuse began in the summer of 2017, after the victim had finished fifth grade, and authorities said it continued until 2021, when she was in eighth grade. The victim reported the alleged abuse to Orleans police in July 2022, according to the outlet's reporting.
Prosecutors Sought a Far Longer Sentence
Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Alberts to 20 to 30 years in prison along with five years of probation, per the same account. The judge instead handed down 12 to 14 years in prison and three years of probation, a sentence the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office reported following the conviction.
District Attorney Robert Galibois's office commended the victim's courage, resilience and determination in coming forward and pursuing the case through trial. The office also said that facing that process and allowing her voice to be heard before a jury is no small thing, according to NBC Boston's report.
What the Convictions Mean
Aggravated rape of a child is defined under Massachusetts law as forcible rape of a child under 16 involving certain aggravating factors, according to Massachusetts General Law Chapter 265, Section 22C. Alberts, who is more than 50 years older than his victim, now faces more than a decade behind bars for the crimes.
