PLYMOUTH — A 41-year-old man who police say physically, emotionally and sexually abused women he was dating over the course of several years was deemed a danger to the public by a judge this week and will be held without bail as he awaits trial.
Matthew Taylor, formerly of 109 Damon’s Point Road in Marshfield, was arrested last week and charged with 40 separate offenses including attempted murder, rape and kidnapping. Assistant District Attorney Carolan Blackwood outlined what she called Taylor’s “history of past manipulative behavior” at a Plymouth District Court hearing Monday, and Judge John Canavan deemed him too dangerous to be released on bail.
He is due back in court on Thursday, Feb. 27.
Taylor was arrested after a police investigation into what his accuser described as months of emotional and physical abuse toward her and a child. She told police that she became aware that Taylor was monitoring her on a home video recording system in 2017.
The video recordings led to beatings and sexual assaults, according to a police report filed with the court. In some instances, the accuser said, Taylor trapped her in a room for hours at a time. Police said Taylor choked her in November and forced the woman to transfer $197,000 to his bank account as a way to control her.
Taylor repeatedly threatened her, putting her in a constant state of fear, according to prosecutors said.
Marshfield Police Officer William Burger and Detective Kim Jones testified at the dangerousness hearing Monday, outlining their investigation into Taylor, which included interviews with family members, friends of the victim and one of his ex-girlfriends, who told police she had experienced similar behavior from him when they dated from 2002 through 2006.
“She reports multiple incidents of physical and mental abuse,” Blackwood said. “She reports that while living in her own home, she is being constantly under surveillance. She has been videotaped, she has been audio recorded, she lives constantly in fear to even take a bath in her own bathroom for fear that she will be recorded in some way, shape or form.”
Authorities have not located recordings, but seized a cell phone and computer matching the description of Taylor’s after a search warrant was executed at the Damon’s Point Road home.
The victim also told officers that Taylor forced sex on her.
“She’s been forced to have sex, perhaps not at gunpoint, perhaps not with a knife to her throat, perhaps not having been held down, but certainly within a certain amount of fear that if she fails to do what he tells her to do or asks her to do, the repercussions and the consequences could be far worse,” Blackwood said.
The victim was granted a restraining order against Taylor in December, but police say they found two pieces of tracking technology in her vehicle that authorities say Taylor used to find her after the restraining order was issued.
“This is an extremely disturbing case,” Marshfield Police Chief Phil Tavares said. “The safety of the victim is paramount.”
Taylor faces 40 charges: one count of attempted murder; two counts of rape; four counts of kidnapping; 12 counts of assault and battery on a family or household member; three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14; two counts of indecent exposure; two counts of reckless endangerment of a child; eight counts of threats to commit crimes; one count of extortion by threat of injury; one count of intimidation of a witness/juror/police or court official; one count of unlawful wiretapping; and one count of strangulation or suffocation.