New Bedford men, 41 and 37, convicted of raping a child

A Fall River jury this month convicted two New Bedford men of raping and molesting a 9-year-old girl in their apartment on Nye Street.

A judge in Fall River Superior Court sentenced Nicholas Pacheco, 41, to 10 to 15 years in state prison on two counts of aggravated rape and abuse of a child with at least a five-year age difference, and his 37-year-old housemate, Braulio Castro, to eight to 12 years on a charge of forcible rape of a child, according to a release from the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.

The victim, who is now a teenager, was raped twice by Pacheco, who she considered to be her father, and once by Castro, evidence during the trial revealed, the district attorney’s office noted.

The girl was ages 9 and 10 when the three incidents took place between Febuary 2015 and February 2017, prosecutors said.

Both men are not citizens of the U.S. and will likely be deported following completion of their prison sentences, the district attorney’s office noted.

“The young victim testified during the trial about each instance of rape and told the jury she delayed disclosure of the rapes and molestations because she truly believed as a young child that she was just a toy and was supposed to be used for sex in this way,” the release said. “Sadly, the young victim had also been molested by two other men during her childhood.”

The girl’s great-uncle, Mario Diaz, was allegedly the first person to sexually assault her when she was just 7 years old. A grand jury indicted Diaz for rape of a child, but he was deported prior to trial.

In 2021, the victim reportedly felt compelled to talk with forensic investigators from the Bristol County Children’s Advocacy Center after she suffered abuse from another New Bedford man. That man, Mario Suy, who is now 27, was convicted last year in New Bedford District Court on two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 and sentenced to county jail, followed by a lengthy probation stint, per the district attorney’s office.

“I commend the victim’s courage and fortitude in coming forward and persevering through these very difficult circumstances,” Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said in a statement.

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