A former director at a Massachusetts migrant shelter is speaking out against incidents of widespread violence, child sexual assault, and rape at shelters in the state. The director, Jon Fetherston, managed the Marlborough Holiday Inn shelter from November 2023 to July 2024 and claims that the shelter was chaotic, with violence, wasteful spending, and rape.
Fetherston recounted several disturbing incidents, including one where a 14-year-old girl was raped by her father, Ronald Joseph, multiple times during their journey to the U.S. and after crossing the border. Joseph was given a taxpayer-funded Lyft ride to another shelter in Worcester, Massachusetts, despite admitting to committing rape.
Another incident involved a 16-year-old female student who was raped multiple times by a 29-year-old man, Gladimy Rodene. Rodene was arrested, removed from the shelter, and issued an abuse prevention order.
Fetherston also spoke about migrants fighting over microwave access and in one incident, a migrant drove a car into Fetherston’s office, knocking him off his chair, in what he claims was retaliation for refusing to hand out diapers to migrants on government benefits.
The Massachusetts government has spent nearly $1.1 billion of taxpayers’ money this fiscal year to house and feed border crossers who have often been placed in hotels converted into shelters. Governor Maura Healey has said that her state police will “absolutely not” be cooperating with the expected mass deportation effort by the incoming Trump administration, warning that she will use “every tool in the toolbox” to “protect” residents in the blue state.
The news comes as Massachusetts has been overwhelmed by the migrant surge coming from the southern border. The state has received around 50,000 migrants since 2021, according to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies.
