Two Lynn men indicted in separate rape cases

SALEM – An Essex County grand jury has indicted two Lynn men on separate cases involving aggravated rape and child rape and molestation crimes.Raymond West, 25, of 8 Elmwood Ave., Apt. 2, faces two counts of rape of a child with force and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14 pertaining to allegations that he raped and molested a young girl in Lynn during a two-year period between Jan. 1, 1997 to Jan. 18, 1999.Modesto Lopez-Miranda, 44, of 98 Henry St., is charged with aggravated rape and kidnapping in connection with an incident in Lynn on Aug. 24 when he allegedly raped a 34-year-old Lynn woman in an apartment on Commercial Street after allegedly kidnapping her and two others and dragging her to the apartment, where she was raped. Two other participants remain unidentified at this time.Assistant District Attorney Michael A. Patten is prosecuting the case for the commonwealth.Indictments are not an indication of guilt. Rather, a grand jury found sufficient evidence to warrant a jury trial in Superior Court, allowing for a more severe punishment.