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Maine Man Indicted In 1996 West Bridgewater Rape



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Contact: Beth Stone – 508-584-8120

BROCKTON – A Maine man has been indicted for the kidnapping and rape of a woman in West Bridgewater in 1996, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.

Today, a Plymouth County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Ivan Keith (DOB: 06/17/58) of Seal Cove, Maine, with one count each of Rape, Kidnapping, Open and Gross Lewdness and Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. At approximately 2:45 p.m. on November 22, 1996, a woman was walking along a dirt path nearby West Bridgewater High School when a male jumped in front of her on the path. The man sexually assaulted the female victim and fled the scene.

In 2013, the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab linked DNA evidence from the 1996 investigation in this case with that of three other rapes which occurred in two other counties during the same time period. In August, 2019, the State Police Crime Lab matched Ivan Keith’s DNA to the DNA found on all four victims and he was arrested in Maine and charged with Rape and other charges in Bristol County. In September, Keith was charged with Rape in Norfolk County and is currently being held without bail. He will be arraigned on the Plymouth County charges at a later date.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Sprague and Kevin O’Leary and was investigated by West Bridgewater Police Department and State Police Detectives assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.

October 22, 2019