A Rochester man facing more than a dozen felony rape charges threatened his victim with a knife and photographed her without her consent during the abuse, a prosecutor told a judge Wednesday.
Darpan Kirat Rai, 36, appeared in Concord’s district court for the first time since his arrest Tuesday morning on 15 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault. He is accused of repeatedly raping a girl – whom he knew – over the course of almost a decade in Concord.
At the request of a city prosecutor, Judge M. Kristin Spath ordered Kirat Rai detained pending trial. Kirat Rai, who is being held at the Merrimack County jail in Boscawen, was not represented by an attorney Wednesday but will be appointed a public defender.
Prosecutor Steven Endres said Kirat Rai is still a danger to the victim who came forward as an adult after years of abuse that began when she was in elementary school. He accused Kirat Rai of grooming the girl, forcibly raping her and of continuing to communicate with her even though she told him to leave her alone.
“When the defendant was arrested, he asked the detective, ‘Who is the complaint in this case?’ ” Endres told the court. “The state has concerns that there is more than one victim out there.”
Police from Concord and Barrington, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshal’s Office, executed an arrest warrant in Rochester early Tuesday and took Kirat Rai into custody without incident. Officers had surrounded the home and moved in on Kirat Rai as he attempted to leave, Concord police Lt. Sean Ford said after the arrest. Police had a warrant and searched his home.
“The defendant has photos of the victim, and he’s blackmailed her with those photos in the past,” Endres said in court Wednesday afternoon. “The defendant is likely to be charged with possession of child sexual abuse images.”
Kirat Rai is accused of sexually abusing the girl, now in her 20s, from 2008 until late 2017. On one occasion, he showed her “a very large knife” and told her “he’d kill people who made him mad,” Endres said.
Kirat Rai is from Nepal, and authorities said he had intended on leaving the United States to return there.
As part of his bail conditions, he was ordered to surrender his passport to the Concord Police Department and to have no contact with the victim.
“The victim, as well as the defendant’s ex-wife, has expressed concern of intimidation from the defendant’s family,” Endres said.
Authorities said the investigation is ongoing, including in Strafford County where additional charges could be forthcoming.
If convicted, Kirat Rai is facing a maximum of 20 years in state prison on each of the 15 sexual assault charges.
Kirat Rai was previously convicted in Rochester’s district court of domestic violence simple assault, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in September 2018 to the misdemeanor charge for assaulting an intimate partner. A 30-day jail sentence was suspended for two years on conditions of good behavior and upon his completion of anger management counseling.
Police ask anyone with information about the sexual assault case to contact Ford at 230-3728, the Concord Regional Crimeline at 226-3100, or Barrington police Lt. Kathleen O’Brien at 664-7679.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319 or at adandrea@cmonitor.com.)