A 46-year-old Sangre Grande man, suspected of raping several women, is now in police custody after being arrested on Monday in a sting operation.
Detectives of the Arouca and Arima CID, led by Insp Mark Maharaj, who had been monitoring the man’s activities over the past few weeks made the arrest.
Police sources said the man lured his victims by placing advertisements for models online and in newspapers. The suspect met the prospective models for interviews after which he forcibly took them to guest houses in east Trinidad where he raped them.
On Monday, an undercover woman police constable contacted the man and arranged an interview. The suspect was arrested when he attempted to attack the officer after a meeting at a fast food outlet in Arima.
He remained detained at the Arouca Police Station where he was being questioned by detectives in relation to several recent rapes as well as the murder of 19-year-old teenager Shenese Samuel, who went missing after leaving her Lopinot home on January 24 to go for a job interview. Samuel’s decomposing body was found along Maqueripe Road, Chaguaramas, days after she was reported missing.
Investigators are appealing to members of the public who may have been assaulted by the man but failed to report it to contact the Arouca Police Station at 640-6138.