A Plymouth man faces possible deportation after being accused of raping a woman he met early Sunday morning at a downtown bar.
Luan Lucas De Souza Goncalves, 21, is being held on $1,000 bail after pleading not guilty to rape and indecent assault and battery charges Monday in Plymouth District Court.
He is in the custody of ICE, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility off Long Pond Road.
Earlier this year, a Plymouth County probate judge ruled that De Souza Goncalves should not be sent back to his native Brazil because he had been neglected and abandoned by his father. But it’s unclear whether immigration authorities accepted the ruling and offered him a special status that allows abused children to apply for permanent residence here.
De Souza Goncalves and the alleged victim, whose name is redacted from incident reports, told Plymouth police vastly different stories about what happened early Sunday morning.
She said she was raped. He said they had consensual sex.
Plymouth police were patrolling the downtown area at around 1:20 a.m. Sunday when they were drawn to a commotion on Middle Street — near the side door of the Main Street Sports Bar and Grill.
They say they encountered a man screaming at De Souza Goncalves. “Get away from her,” he said, referring to the alleged victim, who was “crying and hugging another female,” police wrote.
As officers approached a group of people outside the bar, a male witness said, “Don’t let him leave,” pointing to De Souza Goncalves. “He just raped her.”
The woman was in hysterics, Plymouth Patrol Officer Dylan Ralph wrote, “profusely crying, unable to catch her breath, visibly shaken.”
After she calmed down, Ralph asked her what happened.
She told him she was at the Main Street Sports Bar and Grill with friends when she met De Souza Goncalves. They began talking and exchanged Snapchat profiles.
They eventually went outside and began kissing and touching each other over their clothes, she told police. She said she initially consented but changed her mind.
The alleged victim said she told De Souza Goncalves she needed to go back to her friends. but he “ignored her and began to further advance himself onto her,” Ralph wrote.
She told him “no” multiple times, she said, but he ignored her and allegedly committed digital rape.
She told another officer that he had exposed his penis and tried to get her to touch it. Later at the station, officers noticed that his fly was open, the police report says.
But De Souza Goncalves, who primarily speaks Portuguese, told police he and the woman had consensual sex and that he used a condom.
“I asked Mr. De Souza Goncalves if she ever said she wanted to stop or said no to anything he did; he stated she did not,” police wrote.
At police headquarters, he was interviewed with the aid of a Portuguese translator.
He said he got out of work at a local restaurant and first went to the Proof 22 restaurant and crossed the street to the Main Street Sports Bar and Grill at about midnight.
He told police he and the woman hit it off and kissed in the bar. They then went to the parking lot out back, where they kissed and he touched parts of her body, according to the report.
They then had sex, he told police.
“Mr. De Souza Goncalves stated the entire interaction was fully consensual and at no point did (the alleged victim) tell him to stop or acted as if she did not want to engage with him,” police wrote.
Afterwards, he told police, they helped each other get dressed and they walked back through the parking lot. He noticed she had begun to cry and “it appeared something had gone wrong,” he told police
The alleged victim was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth where evidence of a possible sexual assault was collected, according to the police report.
On Sunday, a Plymouth District Court clerk found probable cause to charge De Souza Goncalves with rape and indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.
On Monday, Plymouth District Court Judge Shelby Smith ruled that if De Souza Goncalves makes bail, he will be subject to electronic monitoring and a 10 p.m. curfew. He was also ordered to stay away from Main Street Sports Bar and Grill and the alleged victim’s home.
He is scheduled to appear for a probable cause hearing on Dec. 20.
In Febraury, DeSouza Goncalves, looking to remain in the country legally, asked a judge to declare him a juvenile “dependent” on the court and other state agencies.
Plymouth County probate judge Kevin Connelly ruled that returning the then 20-year-old De Souza Goncalves to the care of his father was not “a viable option” because he had neglected and abandoned his son.
With that ruling, De Souza Goncalves was eligible to seek “special immigrant juvenile status,” which if approved by immigration authorities would allow him to apply for permanent residence. Applicants must be under 21 when they apply for this special status.
It is unclear whether he has been granted special immigrant juvenile status.
“We cannot provide you any information due to confidentiality reasons, his immigration lawyer, Ludovino Gardini, wrote in an email. De Souza Goncalves’ criminal lawyer, Mark Byron, did not respond to a request for comment.
An ICE spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on De Souza Goncalves’ legal status but said the agency can detain and deport any non-citizen who commits a crime regardless of whether they have a special immigrant juvenile designation.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has the authority to detain and deport noncitizens who engage in criminal activities, pose a threat to public safety, or violate the terms of their visas,” said spokeswoman Yolanda Choates.
She said decisions regarding detention or deportation are made on a case-by-case basis. An immigration judge reviews the record to determine whether someone should be removed from the country.
According to court documents, De Souza Goncalves has no prior criminal record.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.