SALEM – A Superior Court judge allowed a Lynn man charged with raping his former girlfriend to go home Thursday, but ordered he stay away from his accuser and not leave the state.George McDuffie, 26, of 622 Eastern Ave., #2, Lynn, will remain free on $4,000 cash after pleading innocent to five counts of rape involving allegations he raped his former girlfriend at a home in Lynn on dates between Nov. 1, 2007 through April 25, 2008.The victim, now a resident of Tennessee told authorities the repeated sexual encounters happened at a home in Lynn without her consent.As recommended by the prosecutor, Judge Howard J. Whitehead ordered McDuffie to stay away from the victim, report twice a week to probation and not leave the state unless authorized, pending the outcome of his case.A conviction on each of the rape charges carries up to 20 years in state prison.McDuffie is due back in court on Sept. 22 for a pretrial conference.Assistant District Attorney Marsha H. Slingerland is prosecuting the case for the state.Mark Schmidt is the public defender appointed to represent McDuffie since he has been deemed indigent, meaning he has no money to hire his own attorney, but he will have to pay $150 towards that legal representation.
