Dublin fire brigade member charged with Boston rape further held on $100,000 cash bail order

Prosecution tells Boston Municipal Court judge that it is not ready to proceed with scheduled probable cause hearing and is granted postponement

Terence Crosbie, the Dublin fire brigade member charged with the rape of a woman in a Boston hotel after St Patrick’s weekend, was further held on a $100,000 cash bail order after appearing in Boston Municipal Court on Tuesday.

Attorney Nicholas Babaian told Judge James Stanton that the prosecution was not ready to proceed with the scheduled probable cause hearing and requested a postponement, which was granted.

Mr Crosbie, who has been held in Nashua state jail for almost a month, did not speak during the brief appearance, but did indicate that his first name contained one letter ‘r’ when the matter was raised by the judge.

Mr Crosbie (37) was charged with the alleged rape of a 28-year-old woman at the Omni Parker House in Boston on Monday, March 19th. He had travelled to Boston with colleagues from the Dublin Fire Brigade on Thursday, March 14th for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in the city.

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Following the charge, assistant district attorney Erin Murphy confirmed that Boston police officers had interviewed the complainant at Massachusetts General Hospital on Friday, when she alleged that she had been sexually assaulted at the hotel earlier that morning.

The Suffolk County district attorney’s office said through a statement that surveillance video had been obtained from the Black Rose bar in Boston, which Mr Crosbie and the complainant had attended on Thursday evening. After he was interviewed by police on Saturday, Mr Crosbie booked a flight to Ireland for 10.10pm that evening and boarded an earlier flight at Logan airport. State police stopped the plane on the tarmac and Mr Crosbie was removed from the aircraft.

Defence attorney Patrick Garrity and his colleague Dan Reilly represented Mr Crosbie and objected to the prosecution’s request to seek another date for the probable cause hearing, at which it will be determined whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.

Mr Reilly pointed out that their client has been in confinement since being charged and also stated that the defence team had yet to receive requested discovery from the prosecution.

Judge Stanton noted the objection and ordered that Mr Crosbie be held on the same bail fee. He granted a motion to protect request and scheduled date for May 1st, when a date, likely to be in mid-May, will be set for the probable cause hearing.

Defence counsel for Mr Crosbie will request a bail review from the superior court in the hope of obtaining different terms and conditions as legal proceedings continue.

Keith Duggan

Keith Duggan

Keith Duggan is Washington Correspondent of The Irish Times