Alleged Rape Victim's Family 'Scared' After Suspect Walks Free
BOSTON (CBS) - Alleged rape victims and their families are scared after a convicted Peabody rapist was freed from jail this week. Mark Papamechail was convicted of rape twice, and accused two more times. Now he's home, because his most recent alleged victim passed away last week.
"I'm just scared for whoever encounters him next," said the alleged victim's daughter, who did not want to disclose how the woman died, due to the personal nature of her loss. "It's just really, really sad that obviously we lost my mom, and that this man just gets to walk free only because she passed away and she can't be here to speak freely."
Her mother called police from Papamechail's apartment on Stevens Street in Peabody last fall. According to court documents, she told them, "A man was trying to rape her." Documents quote her saying, "He's going to kill me."
Since the alleged victim had died, prosecutors said they couldn't press charges without her testimony, leaving Papamechail free to walk. A neighbor in the same apartment building said he didn't mind living so close to Papamechail, saying it was none of his business.
But another accuser says all neighbors should be concerned. "I'm afraid for other women and children that he is going to do the same thing," said Janine Dunphy. A jury acquitted him of raping her, after her memory was called into question on the stand. "It was two and a half years later…I had PTSD from the incident," she explained.
What has her even more frightened now is the fact that even though Papamechail is a registered sex offender, his name does not come up on the state's online registry. His last conviction for rape happened before the law was changed requiring level two sex offenders' names and addresses to be listed online.
Related: I-Team Investigation Uncovers Loophole In Sex Offender Registry Law
A spokesperson with the Department of Public Safety tells WBZ Papamechail's status could change soon, when his case goes before the Sex Offender Registry Board for review.
Until then, Dunphy has this message for anyone who comes across him: "Watch out. Watch your wives, your daughters, your sisters, because he's not to be trusted."
