LOWELL — A Massachusetts man charged with aggravated rape of a child after a girl told police he sexually abused her for years starting when she was five has walked free after a judge set bail at $5,000 following a dangerousness hearing.
Alex Castellano, 48, of Lowell, was initially held without bail after his arrest on February 19. But after a dangerousness hearing on February 26 at Lowell District Court, a judge set bail at $5,000. He posted it the same day. The name of the judge who set the bail has not been publicly reported.
Castellano was fitted with a GPS tracking device and placed on home confinement with a work curfew, ordered to surrender his passport, avoid contact with the alleged victim, and have no unsupervised contact with minors. The charge carries a potential sentence of life in prison or a mandatory minimum of 10 years.
The allegations came to light on December 10, when the girl's father told police his daughter had disclosed sexual abuse involving Castellano, according to a Lowell Police incident report obtained by the Lowell Sun. During a recorded interview with Lowell Police, the Middlesex DA's Office, and a forensic interviewer, the girl said the first incident occurred during a sleepover at Castellano's home, when he invited her to his room to watch a movie. She described a second incident in his vehicle.
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The abuse allegedly continued until she was 10 or 11, occurring "a few times a month."
She told investigators she had been afraid to come forward because Castellano "has anger issues." She described the last incident at his home, saying she told him to stop and kicked him as he held her down. She yelled for another family member, ran, and locked herself in a room.
As the investigation continued, a second accuser came forward. An adult known to Castellano alleged she had been sexually assaulted by him when she was a teenager, an incident never reported to police. That adult mentioned yet another person connected to Castellano had told her he had "accidentally touched her."
Castellano's longtime partner told investigators she had been approached about the prior allegations but "never addressed this incident with Alex, wanting to keep the peace." She also acknowledged that she and Castellano sometimes got into arguments that turned physical, but declined to provide details.
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When police interviewed Castellano, he denied the allegations. He told investigators children known to him were often at the home and that he frequently "wrestled" with them. When asked why the girl would lie, he said maybe "for attention."
His attorney, Jamal Aruri, called him "a person of integrity and a trusted member of the community" and said "we have no doubt that if these charges are presented to a jury of his peers, he will be exonerated."
Castellano is scheduled to return to court for a probable cause hearing on April 28.
The bail amount continues a pattern that has sparked outrage across Massachusetts. Just last week, a Healey-appointed judge freed two alleged child predators on $0 bail, and days earlier, two men who showed up to meet a 15-year-old at a Lowell hotel were released on $0 bail and walked free the next day.
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