Man Accused of Teen Rape Arrested in Florida

A former Merrimack man accused of raping a teenage girl from New Hampshire after giving her cocaine last year was arrested in Florida on May 1, according to NECN.

U.S. Marshals arrested Eric Cousens, 44, formerly of 222 Amherst Road, Merrimack, after a failure to appear at his trial earlier this week in Hillsbrough County Superior Court.

Read the NECN story in its entirety.

Merrimack Patch reported last spring that police charged Cousens with two counts of felonious sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child younger than 16 after he allegedly took her on a ride around greater Nashua, bought her a shoes and a fleece jacket from Merrimack Premium Outlets and encouraged her to snort cocaine with him. The charge at the time said Cousens later took the girl to his apartment where the sexual assault was said to have occurred.