Man charged with kidnapping, attempted rape at cemetery

TAUNTON, Mass. (WJAR) — Authorities in Massachusetts said they arrested a man on several charges, including attempted rape, in connection with an incident they said happened at a cemetery.

The Taunton Police Department said they believe 21-year-old William Perez, of Taunton, attacked a 44-year-old woman at the Mayflower Hill Cemetery early Saturday morning, forced her to leave the property with him, and then ran away from the scene.

Perez appeared in court on Monday. He hid behind a wall as a prosecutor read details from the police report.

In the report, the woman claimed Perez approached her with his hand in his pocket saying, “You’re coming with me.” The report noted that he then immediately grabbed her and dragged her to the right side of a gray shed.

According to the report, he was holding a boxcutter and pushed the woman to the ground trying to undress her. It said she attempted to fight the suspect off, but he hit her in the left cheek with a closed fist.

Shortly after, police said witnesses arrived and Perez took off into the woods. The woman was taken to the hospital and later released.

Officers viewed video evidence from the surrounding area and arrested Perez at his home.

Perez’s attorney, Amit Singh, said there are too many conflicting descriptions of the suspect, so he asked the judge permission to hide his face in court, which she allowed.

Just by looking at the police report there’s been three descriptions, one says he’s 5’5” one says 5’2,” one says he had short hair, one says he had curly hair so that’s like two to three different descriptions provided by whoever is involved in the case,” said Singh.

A doctor evaluated Perez for an hour and a half Monday and said he’s competent to stand trial but needs a full evaluation for criminal responsibility. He said it was his impression that there was a question raised whether or not he lacked the capacity to control his behavior at the time of the incident.

Perez was charged with kidnapping, indecent assault and battery on a person age 14 or over, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to commit rape.

He entered a not-guilty plea and was ordered held without bail while more evidence is gathered.

A news release notes officers set up staging and performed a comprehensive search of the area around the cemetery. They were assisted by the Raynham Police Department and the Raynham K-9 Unit.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: WJAR's Sam Read, Joanna Bouras, and Allegra Zamore contributed to this report.