Commonwealth v. Mendez

In October, 2007, after the Supreme Judicial Court’s adoption of the first complaint doctrine in Commonwealth v. King, 445 Mass. 217 (2005), cert. denied, 546 U.S. 1216 (2006), but prior to further elaboration of the doctrine in cases such as Commonwealth v. Stuckich, 450 Mass. 449 (2008), and Commonwealth v. Arana, 453 Mass. 214 (2009), the defendant was tried and convicted on indictments charging that, in 2002, he sexually assaulted his wife’s nieces — Alice, then ten years old, and Betty, then fourteen years old1 — when they spent successive nights at his house assisting with child care.2…