Court docs reveal failed attempts to keep Acton, Massachusetts, victim safe from abuser
Why couldn't the teenage girl murdered Thursday in Acton be kept safe from the man accused of abusing her? 5 Investigates gathered documents across multiple courts to see what went wrong.
Juliano Santana is accused of abducting his stepdaughter in Acton, then murdering her and killing himself. In 2021, he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of rape, allegedly abusing his teenage stepdaughter over a period of years.
After she reported the abuse, the girl’s mother, Olena Wilson, applied for a restraining order against Santana, stating she feared for her and her daughter's safety.
"I also fear for my safety because I [realized] that I do not know this man and based on this situation I do not know what he is capable of,” Wilson wrote.
Santana had been out of jail on $30,000 bail in the nearly three years since that arrest. Court records also show that Santana's rape trial was rescheduled four times. Originally scheduled to take place in October 2022, it was most recently scheduled to begin in late July 2024.
As part of his bail conditions, Santana also had to wear a GPS monitoring device and stay away from his stepdaughter’s home and school in Malden, which is where she lived at the time of the crimes.
Northeastern University School of Law Professor Margo Lindauer says more could have been done to keep this victim and others safe.
“This is an issue writ large in the system that these cases are not prioritized. There are not enough district attorneys, there are not enough lawyers to lawyer the cases and the cases are pushed,” Lindauer said. “As far as we know the mother did everything she could to protect her children, and it wasn't enough. And that is something the Massachusetts system has to take responsibility for.”
Professor Lindauer added that this tragic case could serve as a chance to revisit our domestic violence and sexual assault laws, including whether people can be held without bail for child rape charges.
