Man Serving Time In Texas Indicted In 2013 Massachusetts Rape Cases

NEW BEDFORD, MA — A man already serving a 20-year prison sentence in Texas is now facing numerous rape charges in Massachusetts.

Orlando Robles, 47, was indicted by a Bristol County grand jury in connection to multiple sexual assaults that happened in New Bedford in 2013.

In New Bedford, Robles is being charged with three counts of rape, two counts of assault with intent to rape, one count of kidnapping, one count of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, and two counts of assault and battery.

Four women came forward to police, saying they had been violently raped in New Bedford between June and July 2013, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn said.

Police were able to review surveillance footage from a video camera showing a man running away and getting into a Ford Ranger pick-up truck after the fourth assault.

Investigators were able to link the truck to Robles, who was brought in by police for an interview. Robles told police he was from Rockport, Texas, and was in town working as a scallop fisherman, and was not held after the interview.

Within hours of his interview, police discovered that Robles suddenly left for Texas.

"Police observed that after Robles left for Texas, the spate of sexual assaults in New Bedford immediately stopped," Quinn's office said in a statement.

Then in August and September, a series of four similar incidents happened in Corpus Christi, Texas, convicting Robles and sending him to prison in December 2013.

The DA's Cold Case Unit and New Bedford Police detectives discovered similarities between the Texas and Massachusetts cases and were able to interview Robles in prison last month.

"I'm very pleased to announce this defendant was indicted by the Grand Jury for a series of sexual assaults that put the community at fear due to the violent and random nature of the attacks," Quinn said.

Robles is set to become eligible for parole in Texas in 2023, but Quinn said he will seek a warrant that would require Robles to answer the Massachusetts charges before finishing his sentence in Texas.