Illegal alien who raped, impregnated his own daughter at government-run shelter learns prison sentence
Joseph, a 44-year-old Haitian national, was living in a government-run hotel in Marlborough, Massachusetts, when it was discovered he had repeatedly raped his own daughter, resulting in the 14-year-old girl becoming pregnant.
Though the crimes were committed between 2023 and 2024, Joseph was not arrested until Jan. 31, 2025, when he was charged with aggravated rape of a child and held without bail.
In a statement Thursday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Marlborough Chief of Police David Giorgi confirmed Joseph pleaded guilty to aggravated rape of a child for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old victim. According to the statement, Judge Kenneth Salinger of the Massachusetts Superior Courts sentenced Joseph July 11 to 12-15 years in prison.
The statement said, during the investigation, an extensive ultrasound was conducted, which placed the time of conception within the timeframe when the child and Joseph were living together at the shelter.
After the baby was born, mouth swabs were taken and tested from the victim, her child and Joseph, which determined it was 23 trillion times more likely than not that Joseph was the biological father of his daughter's baby.
According to The Boston Globe, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also filed an immigration detainer against Joseph. The outlet reported an ICE spokesperson saying that Joseph entered the U.S. in May 2023 without valid paperwork but was granted entry into the country and given a date to appear before an immigration judge.
Earlier this year, Jon Fetherston, a former Massachusetts state employee who was running the Marlborough shelter when the crime was uncovered, told Fox News Digital that when he confronted Joseph, the Haitian migrant grabbed and attacked him.
A report by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, obtained by Fox News Digital, further confirmed that after Joseph was informed he would lose access to his daughter, he "got very agitated and started yelling" at Fetherston, stating that "this was all his fault, and he was to blame."
Fetherston told Fox News Digital that as soon as Joseph heard he was losing custody of his daughter, he "reached across the table and grabbed me and got angry with me and started cursing and yelling and screaming and swinging at me because he realized what was happening."
Rather than arrest Joseph immediately, Fetherston said he was directed by authorities to order the immigrant a Lyft ride to another shelter in Worcester County.
"I'm going to be honest. The entire experience has shaken me to my core," said Fetherston.
After Joseph's sentencing, Fetherston told Fox News Digital "the arrest of Ronald Joseph is not an isolated incident," but rather "it's the byproduct of a reckless, opaque and mismanaged system that has operated without accountability for far too long."
"Crimes occurring within these state-funded shelters have been intense, frequent and deeply concerning to the general public," said Fetherston. "From sexual assaults to drug trafficking and violent behavior, the state has failed both the migrants and the Massachusetts taxpayers."
Joseph is not the only illegal immigrant who has been caught committing crimes while living in a Massachusetts shelter. In December, Dominican national Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, was caught storing an AR-15, ammunition and about $1 million in fentanyl in another state-run hotel in Revere, Massachusetts.
In May, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat who has been critical of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, announced the state would be closing the remaining 32 shelters this summer. Healey cited a decline in need for the shelters. A statement by her office said the number of families in shelters had dropped below 5,000.
Commenting on the shelter closures, Fetherston told Fox News Digital the plan "raises more questions than it answers."
"Where exactly are these unvetted individuals going? Massachusetts has one of the lowest housing inventories in the country. Are we really expected to believe that after two years of failure to house residents properly, the state has suddenly solved the crisis overnight?" he said. "This isn't policy. This is political gaslighting."
Fox News Digital reached out to Healey's office for comment but did not hear back prior to publication deadline.
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