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Prosecutors drop all rape charges against Ivan Cheung, former bank VP
Cheung, who worked for State Street Corp., was charged in 2022 for four rapes that took place between 2003 and 2006.
Prosecutors have dropped all charges against Ivan Cheung, the former State Street bank vice president who was arrested in 2022, thanks to a Boston Police rape kit initiative, for a series of rapes that took place nearly two decades earlier.
Cheung, 42, of Quincy had been accused of committing four rapes at knifepoint, two of them involving minor sex workers. But in December, a ruling by a Suffolk Superior Court judge barred the Suffolk district attorney’s office from bringing evidence relating to specific allegations that could not be filed as their own charges due to a statute of limitations.
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In a court document filed Tuesday by District Attorney Kevin Hayden, he said the Commonwealth “has determined that an appeal of the decision to exclude the evidence would not be viable.”
It was the last in a long line of blows to the case against Cheung, which had been going downhill for months.
“Because neither the two child victims nor forensic evidence identified the perpetrator of the crimes charged, without the excluded evidence the Commonwealth cannot prove the indictments beyond a reasonable doubt at trial,” Hayden wrote.
The document also noted that one of the victims, who reported her rape in 2003, has “refused” to return and testify at trial.
Previously:
“Without her willing participation, the Commonwealth would be unable to prove the crimes against her in any event,” Hayden said.
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The charges against Cheung included four counts of aggravated rape, four counts of aggravated rape of a child, and two counts of aggravated statutory rape. The four incidents, which took place in 2003, 2005, and 2006, involved two underage sex workers, a 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl.
His case gained attention for its sordid allegations, his status as a bank vice president, and special privileges afforded to him.
The case was closed Tuesday. Boston.com has reached out to Cheung’s attorney for comment.
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