Police on Monday said a 28-year-old man already imprisoned on a separate matter was rearrested and charged in connection with domestic violence-related rape and other charges involving a 16-year-old minor.
Matthew Fontaine was arrested at 10:10 a.m. Monday and charged with first-degree aggravated rape-domestic violence, first-degree rape, first-degree unlawful sexual contact, child abuse, second-degree rape and first-degree assault, according to V.I. Police spokesperson Toby Derima.
“Fontaine was accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old female on several occasions. The victim reported that he threatened her with a firearm during the sexual assaults,” Derima said in a released statement.
Bail for Fontaine, who already was in custody of the Bureau of Corrections, was set at $150,000.
Dermia said Steven Phillip, chief of police in the St. Thomas-St. John District, thanked members of the Criminal Investigation and Youth Investigation Bureaus for working together on the case that he described as a “problem present in our community.”
“We must protect our children, and hopefully this will be the start of persons who know something, coming forward and saying something,” Phillip said.
adding that the Department of Justice National Crime Victimization Survey noted that every 73 seconds an American is sexually assaulted. The survey also noted that Americans, ages 12-34, are the highest risk years for rape and sexual assault.
“Just as there is no excuse for domestic violence, there is no excuse for sexual violence,” Phillip said.