Boston man held without bail on 2017 rape, sexual assault charges

BOSTON, September 26, 2022 — A man who targeted women outside college dorms and downtown bars by impersonating an Uber driver was ordered held without bail today pending a dangerousness hearing on rape and indecent assault and battery charges stemming from 2017 assaults, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

WILLIAM MANCORTES, 43, of Hyde Park was charged in Boston Municipal Court Central with two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault and battery.  Judge Richard Sinnott ordered Mancortes held without bail pending a September 29 dangerousness hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel Nucci said that on three occasions in January. April and May of 2017, Mancortes, pretending to be an Uber driver, picked up intoxicated women outside of college dorms and downtown Boston bars.  Mancortes raped two of the women and indecently assaulted the third.

Each of the victims in the three charged cases completed a Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit (SAECK).  While the perpetrator’s DNA samples from the kits matched, the samples could not be connected to Polanco until this year, when his profile was added to the DNA database.

“These were calculated assaults targeting vulnerable young women who had every reason to believe they were entering a safe vehicle that would deliver them home.  Instead they were victimized by a person who preyed on their trust and vulnerability,” Hayden said. 

James Borghesani, Chief of Communications