State Street employee charged in series of rapes in Boston dating back to 2003
BOSTON - Prosecutors said in court on Tuesday that a cigarette butt helped lead to the arrest of a Quincy man who is charged with multiple rapes in Boston dating back 19 years. The accusations include alleged attacks on two children.
Boston Police arrested 42-year-old Ivan Cheung Monday evening. He was arraigned Tuesday in Boston Municipal Court on four counts of aggravated rape, four counts of aggravated rape of a child, and two counts of aggravated statutory rape.
Cheung, who hid his face during the arraignment, pleaded not guilty. A judge ordered him held on $1 million cash bail.
Police said the charges are related to four incidents dating back to 2003, 2005 and 2006. They said a Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit helped them identify Cheung and he could face more charges.
Cheung worked for State Street, a financial services company in Boston.
"We have made the decision to terminate the individual's employment," the company said in a statement to WBZ-TV Tuesday.
Prosecutors alleged that two of the attacks were against children. Cheung allegedly picked up a 13-year-old girl who was a sex worker, took her from Chinatown to a different location where he is accused of stabbing and raping her. Police said Cheung also held a knife to a 14-year-old's throat and raped her.
In 2005, Cheung is accused of attacking a woman in the area of Park Plaza. Prosecutors said he held a knife to that woman's throat as well, and also stabbed her. DNA was recovered in that case, prosecutors said.
A year later, prosecutors said Cheung picked up an 18-year-old woman in the North End, also holding a knife to her throat while he was driving. Police said that woman was raped, and DNA was obtained.
In June of this year, police collected a discarded cigarette that Cheung had been smoking. Prosecutors said DNA from the cigarette matched samples collected in the cases of the two adult women.
Cheung is next due in court on September 22.
