Gov. Maura Healey needs to take accountability for the conditions leading to the chilling rape of a 15-year-old disabled girl in a state-run migrant shelter.
If the Democratic governor can’t keep safe the thousands of migrant families she’s placing in these shelters, she needs to step aside.
It’s another sign of the completely irresponsible way Healey has been handling the immigration crisis.
The governor and the state completely failed this child.
Officials at the least should immediately launch an investigation into how the rape occurred under their watch – allegedly by 23-year-old Haitian immigrant Cory B. Alvarez – and publicly report the results.
Right now the only details we’re getting are from law enforcement, as well as a few perfunctory comments from Healey in which she sought to avoid any responsibility by saying the alleged perpetrator entered the country through a federal program.
“Again, we don’t know the specifics of this case, but we take all allegations of sexual assault most seriously,” she said Friday. “My heart goes out to the victim, the alleged victim in this case, and her family. We need to let the criminal justice system do its work.”
Healey also claimed Alvarez was vetted before being placed in the shelter where the National Guard has been deployed, saying the state was “deploying all that we can in terms of vetting individuals … We have the right systems in place. It is unfortunate that from time to time, things will happen … not just in shelter but anywhere.”
It’s clearly not enough.
And for the governor’s edification, the “alleged” victim has already identified Alvarez as the man who raped her in the Rockland Comfort Inn, which, like dozens of other hotels, has been turned into a state migrant shelter. Alvarez has pleaded not guilty.
Obviously, the state vetting program failed in this case to protect the 15-year-old victim. Her life has been forever damaged.
The victim didn’t pick where she was going to live and who was living in the hotel with her. That’s on Healey.
The state is directing people to these shelters and the migrant families should have an expectation that they will be safe.
Healey’s attempts to deflect damage came after the rape rocketed quickly around the Internet and made national headlines – and rightfully drawing the attention of critics of Joe Biden and Healey who have overseen the surge of migrants into this country.
State Sen. Peter Durant (R-Spencer) said the rape was “indicative of systemic failures” in Healey’s shelter program.
The reported rape comes on the heels of other problems in the shelters, including a chickenpox outbreak in Roxbury.
Meanwhile, Healey can score political points about welcoming new arrivals, and have her writers pen hilarious St. Patrick’s Day breakfast jokes.
Well, while Healey is chumming it up with Democratic lawmakers in Southie, no one should forget that the 15-year-old victim didn’t get a good welcome into this country.
