Charges withdrawn in East Bridgewater Voodoo assault case

PLYMOUTH — Four days before two women were set to stand trial on charges they injured two young children in a supposed Voodoo ritual, prosecutors withdrew the charges against them, closing the case.

Rachel Hilaire, 42, and Peggy LaBossiere, 53, were scheduled to go on trial Monday in Plymouth Superior Court on charges that include mayhem, assault and battery on a child with injury and indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14.

Instead, their cases have been closed after the Plymouth County district attorney's office filed a nolle prosequi, a formal filing that the charges will no longer be prosecuted, on all charges against both women last Thursday.

Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham, who had been prosecuting the case, filed the nolle pros on behalf of the district attorney's office.

"As reasons therefore, the Commonwealth has determined based on information obtained regarding the two children named as victims in this case that the children would be unavailable to testify in this matter," she wrote in the court filing, obtained by The Enterprise. "Furthermore, it is not in the best interest of the children or in the best interest of justice to further compel their testimony at this time."

The women, who are sisters, were arrested by East Bridgewater police in January 2018 after performing what they described as a Haitian Voodoo ritual on their friend's children.

"Without the testimony of the children in this case, the Commonwealth does not have a good faith basis to proceed to trial at this time," Buckingham wrote in the nolle pros filing.

As of Thursday, the cases were closed and medical records related to the case were destroyed, according to court documents.

Beth Stone, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Timothy Cruz, said prosecutors have the ability to refile charges at a later date if circumstances change or additional evidence is developed.

"The facts of this case were disturbing and there is no question that these children have been impacted by the circumstances in this case. As the trial date approached, however, it became evident that these two child victims would be unable to testify or would be substantially limited in their ability to testify," Stone said. "Accordingly, we chose to file a nolle prosequi because, in the absence of testimony from the victims, it was determined that we could not meet our burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In making that determination, we carefully considered how best to protect these children from being further traumatized so that they may continue to move forward with their lives."

Police had accused the women of tying up, burning and disfiguring a 5-year-old girl to rid her of a demon that was making her misbehave and threatening to cut the head off of the girl's 8-year-old brother.

The women were indicted by a Plymouth County grand jury in March 2018 on eight charges. They had several scheduled jury trial dates canceled, including in March, June, August, October and December of last year.

In mid-January 2018, Randolph police asked East Bridgewater officers to perform a health and welfare check on a woman and her two children who had been staying with Hilaire and LaBossiere at an apartment on West Union Street. LaBossiere was a client of the mother, who is a hair stylist.

Police found the family there and noticed that the 5-year-old girl had a large third-degree burn across her face. Police say doctors later said burns on the girl’s face caused permanent disfigurement. The mother told police she is of Haitian descent and believes in the religion of Voodoo.

″(The mother) stated that her children have been behaving badly due to evil spirits and that they perform prayers, and use certain water and oils to make the demon leave,” East Bridgewater police Detective John Grillo wrote in an arrest report.

The mother of the children was never charged with any crimes related to the case, but was evaluated at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, then sent to Pembroke Hospital for mental health treatment.

The children were taken into custody by the Department of Children and Families following the arrests.

Police had also accused Hilaire and LaBossiere of tying the 5-year-old girl down on two occasions and using a "pointy object" like a needle to cut her on her arm and collar area as well as blowing fire over her face. Police had accused LaBossiere of threatening to cut off the 8-year-old boy’s head using a machete. Police had additionally accused both women of touching the boy's genitals while rubbing a plant-like substance on his body.

Neither of the defense attorneys for the two women returned a phone call on Monday.