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Boston's Morning Newsletter
The timeline of sexual assault allegations against Alvin Campbell
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Mayor Michelle Wu is back on Radio Boston today at 11 a.m. Have a question for her? Send it to us through the Radio Boston text club.
But first, let’s start this week with a story months in the making:
A staggering case of serial rape: Alvin Campbell faces charges of sexually assaulting nine women, one of the largest cases of serial rape in Greater Boston in recent memory. But a new investigation by WBUR’s Walter Wuthmann finds police failed to arrest Campbell for three years after the first victim came forward — even as the attacks mounted. Walt found a previously unreported search warrant detailing three times women went to police alleging Campbell had sexually assaulted them. All three times, DNA pointed to Campbell. And all three times, police did not arrest him. Here’s a look at the timeline leading up to his arrest:
- 2016: A woman leaving a bar in downtown Boston got into Campbell’s Uber. But instead of taking her to her hotel, he allegedly sexually assaulted her at his Dorchester apartment. (Uber subsequently removed Campbell from their platform, though he reportedly continued to pose as a driver.)
- 2017: Two roommates leaving The Harp, a popular sports bar near TD Garden, got a ride home from Campbell after he told them he was a bouncer. They told police that later in the night, Campbell raped one of them and attempted to rape the other while they were sleeping.
- 2018: Another woman told police Campbell sexually assaulted her while driving her home to Medford from Boston’s Howl at the Moon piano bar.
- 2020: Police finally arrested Campbell after a fifth victim came forward, alleging he picked her up outside The Harp and sexually assaulted her. And even then, the victim told friends the police were initially “not helpful.”
- Zoom out: Experts who study sexual assault say the case is an egregious example of a wider problem: few reports of sexual assault ever lead to arrest. “The whole way that sexual assault is treated within the criminal justice system is in need of reform,” said Melissa Morabito, a University of Massachusetts Lowell criminologist.
- Zoom in: Campbell is the older brother of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. Her office said she’s had no contact with police or prosecutors about the case, and has not spoken to her brother since his 2020 arrest. “I remain horrified, heartbroken and devastated by this case,” AG Campbell told WBUR.
Here's a complete timeline of the accusations against Campbell, including those discovered after his arrest:
Earth Day news you can use: Boston, Cambridge and over a dozen other Massachusetts communities have combined sewage and storm water systems that overflow into nearby rivers and bays when it rains heavily. Now, you can track real-time alerts for over 180 overflow locations across the state with this convenient WBUR map.
- Why we made this: Officials recommend waiting at least 48 hours after an overflow to swim, boat or let pets in the affected water. The map shows if there has been any overflows in your area within 24 or 48 hours.
- Go deeper: No one really wants these combined sewer overflows to exist anymore. But as WBUR’s Miriam Wasser explains here, they’re not an easy — or cheap — problem to fix.
The local angle: Students at Emerson College and MIT are setting up encampments in solidarity with pro-Palestinian protesters arrested last week at Columbia University. The Boston Globe reports Emerson students set up at least seven tents last night in the Boylston Place alley across from Boston Common, while MIT students set up their encampment on the campus’s Kresge Oval.
- The students are calling on their colleges to support a ceasefire in Gaza and divest from companies that support Israel.
Lights out and away we go: Formula 1’s first car racing arcade in the U.S. opens today in Boston’s Seaport, giving local racing fans a chance to see what it’s like on those twisty tracks.
- Zoom in: At 15,500 square feet, the two-floor arcade includes 69 “full-motion racing-simulators” and a 37-foot-long bar. According to its website, all ages are welcome until 7 p.m. (when the venue becomes 21+) and those as young as 7 years old can race.
- Zoom out: The Seaport venue is F1’s third simulator arcade in the world, following the recent launch of two locations in England.
P.S.— The Bruins and Celtics playoffs continue at TD Garden today and tomorrow, after both teams cruised to Game 1 wins in their first-round matchups over the weekend. Ahead of each playoff home game, Boston will close Canal Street to cars at noon to allow for more hangout space for fans and outdoor restaurant seating.
