A Massachusetts court released a 63-year-old man on $15,000 bail hours after child rape charges tied to a church assault, despite his prior conviction for the same crime.
Breitbart reported that authorities arrested Raul Feliciano, 63, on charges of rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 in connection with an alleged 2024 assault of a girl who was 13 at the time.
The alleged attack took place in the basement of Iglesia Cristiana Reino de Dios Church in Milford, Massachusetts. Feliciano walked free on $15,000 bail a few hours after his arrest.
That sequence is the whole story in miniature: serious child sex charges, a prior conviction on the same kind of offense, and a quick release on modest bail.
Court records cited in the reporting show Feliciano was convicted in 2001 in Gardner District Court of indecent assault and battery of a child under 14.
That history matters because the new case is not a first brush with the system. It is a second round of child sex charges against a man already convicted once.
Feliciano denies the new allegations. He told reporters the girl may have misunderstood what happened at church and that investigators are using his past against him.
Feliciano said:
"I don’t know why the girl is saying that. I was in church, and maybe she misunderstood."
He also said:
"I’m innocent. They’re just taking advantage of my record."
Prosecutors say the episode began when Feliciano asked the girl’s mother if the teenager could help him with something in the church basement.
The girl later told police that Feliciano touched her and put his hands down her pants. She said she ran when she heard a zipper. A police report states that afterward, while she sat alone in her family’s car outside the church, he told her to stay quiet.
The police report, as quoted in the coverage, put it this way:
"later, when she alone was in her family’s car parked outside the church, the victim stated that the suspect told her not to tell anyone."
Those details come from the girl’s account to detectives and from the charging narrative. Feliciano disputes them. A court has not ruled on guilt.
WCVB Boston reporting cited in the coverage said the investigation started after the girl came forward.
That account stated:
"The investigation began on Sept. 9, after the victim reported the incident to Milford detectives. Feliciano was arrested on Friday by the Worcester Police Department and is charged with rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14."
Other language in the same reporting cluster said Milford police arrested him on October 26. The day-of-week and agency labels do not fully line up in the public accounts. What is consistent is the basic arc: a September report, an October arrest, child rape and indecent assault charges, then release on $15,000 bail within hours.
Boston Globe reporting cited in the package said he was free a few hours after the arrest on that $15,000 bond.
Milford Police Chief Robert Tusino addressed the decision by the girl to speak up.
Tusino said:
"It takes a lot to come forward and to tell your story when you’ve been brutalized."
Rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 are among the most serious sex charges on the books. Pair them with a 2001 conviction for indecent assault and battery of a child under 14, and the public safety stakes are obvious.
Yet the same reporting shows Feliciano was back out on $15,000 bail almost as soon as he was booked. No detailed bail conditions, next hearing date, or full charging packet appear in the available accounts. The verified fact is simpler: hours after arrest, he was released.
Families who send children to church basements for help with ordinary tasks are left with that result. A man already convicted of molesting a child faces fresh child rape charges tied to a house of worship, and posts a five-figure bond before the day is done.
Law-and-order systems are judged by what they do when the defendant is not a first-time name on a docket. This one posted bail and went home.
