Massachusetts man pleads guilty in 13-year-old girl's death

A Massachusetts man charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and giving her drugs before dropping her off unresponsive at a hospital where she later died was sentenced Friday to up to 22 years in prison.

Carlos Rivera, 49, of Lawrence, was sentenced in Salem Superior Court after pleading guilty to 19 charges involving several victims, including involuntary manslaughter, aggravated rape of a child, and distribution of drugs to a minor.

According to court records, Rivera dropped Chloe Ricard at Lawrence General Hospital on May 20, 2019. The Amesbury girl did not have a pulse and was soon pronounced dead, authorities said. Investigators determined that the girl had been unresponsive at Rivera's apartment for nine hours before he brought her to the hospital.

The cause of death was acute intoxication due to alcohol, cocaine, and fentanyl, prosecutors said.

Rivera lured several vulnerable girls and women to his apartment from late 2013 until May 2019, offering them drugs, alcohol, food, clothing and other gifts in return for sex acts, prosecutors said. His victims included three adults and seven girls under 18.

“Today, justice was served for my daughter. I am very happy how it went down. I am grateful he did admit his guilt,” the girl’s mother, Deborah Goldsmith, said outside of court. “I would have loved a life sentence, but it didn’t happen.”

In previous court hearings, prosecutors had requested a life sentence, while his defense asked for a sentence of 14 to 16 years behind bars.

After he is released from prison, Rivera will serve 10 years of probation, be required to register as a sex offender and will not be allowed to have unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.