Prosecutor: Suspect exchanged gifts for rape

Aug. 8—SALEM, Mass. — A mechanic by day and drug dealer by night, Carlos Rivera preyed on vulnerable young girls, giving them alcohol, drugs, gifts and food, then raping them, demanding nude photos and more, a prosecutor said.

Rivera would take the girls, some of whom were addicts, out to eat, to get take-out, to nail salons and give them access to an elaborate array of feminine hygiene and personal products he stocked in the bathroom of his Lawrence apartment. He gave one girl $180 to go out on a date — but only after he performed a sex act on her, Assistant District Attorney Jessica Strasnick said at a lobby conference in Salem Superior Court.

"He was doing this for his own sexual gain," said Strasnick, adding that Rivera had no problem "forcing" these girls to "give him what he felt he was owed."

Strasnick said he purchased holiday presents for the family of one victim. Then on Christmas Eve 2013 he raped her as payback, she said.

Authorities said Rivera, now 49, got away with the predatory behavior until May 20, 2019, after Chloe Ricard, 13, of Amesbury, spent time at his 59 Bellevue St. apartment. That night, he and another girl dumped Ricard's lifeless body at the Lawrence General Hospital emergency room and left, Strasnick said.

Ricard was pronounced dead a short time later. An autopsy listed her cause of death as acute intoxication from a combination of fentanyl, cocaine, an antihistamine, and ethanol, Strasnick said.

"This was the dark and dangerous life Carlos Rivera had been living for many years," she added.

Indicted by the Essex County grand jury, Rivera is charged with 19 criminal counts, including rape, aggravated rape, human trafficking, involuntary manslaughter and providing illegal drugs. His purported victims include three adult women and seven girls under the age of 18, authorities said. Rivera remains held without bail.

On July 19, during the lobby conference where potential resolutions to the case were discussed, Strasnick detailed the charges for Judge Thomas Dreschler. If Rivera pleads guilty, prosecutors want him sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, according to an audio recording of the court hearing.

Victim impact statements were read aloud and written accounts also given to Dreschler. Members of Ricard's family, including her mother, also addressed the judge, asking for Rivera to face the maximum punishments as allowed by law.

Rivera is nicknamed "Mago," which means "Magician," Strasnick said.

But Rivera's attorney, Jeanne Earley, asked Dreschler to consider a more lenient sentence in the range of 14 to 16 years in prison, with dismissal of the human trafficking charges.

She said Rivera is one of eight children and has four children of his own. He has his GED and has worked as a mechanic, bartender and in construction. Prior to these charges, he had no criminal record, she said.

Earley said some approached by investigators did not want to testify because they thought Rivera "was a friend and a good person."

Conversely, Earley said she was not "minimizing" the charges he is facing.

"My heart goes out to Chloe's family and I feel horrible for them," she said.

After hearing from both the prosecution and defense, and taking a break, the judge said if Rivera pleaded guilty, he would sentence him to 20 to 22 years in state prison followed by 10 years probation.

While on probation, Rivera would need to register with the state's Sex Offender Registry Board, wear a GPS monitor and abide by a curfew, Dreschler said.

The case was continued until Aug. 26 in Salem Superior Court. At that time, Rivera is expected to decide whether he will plead guilty or the case will proceed to trial.

Ricard's mother, in her victim impact statement, said the loss of her daughter "has caused me to live in a world of darkness and depression."

On May 20, 2019, when she arrived at Lawrence General Hospital, Deborah Goldsmith said she was told her daughter "was listed as Jane Doe," according to the audio recording of the hearing.

Goldsmith said Chloe's lifeless body was left in a chair "like trash." And "Jane Doe" was what she was called until her stepfather "had to identify her dead body."

"Why would you do this? How can someone do this?" Goldsmith asked. "No one deserves to bury their 13-year-old daughter."

In another victim impact statement read aloud in court, Ricard's grandparents said Rivera deserves "nothing less" than the most severe punishment possible.

Rivera, they said, "needs to be removed from our midst never to ever harm another child."

Another victim, now age 29, said she was also raped by Rivera. She was previously an addict and he supplied her drugs. She said she feels emotionally betrayed, physically violated and still suffers from trust and relationship issues and has flashbacks.

"Mago really broke a part of me that will never be the same," she said.

Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.