Taunton Man Sentenced to Prison for Domestic Violence

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A Taunton man was sentenced Monday to serve four to five years in state prison for beating his girlfriend after pleading guilty ahead of a trial in Fall River Superior Court.

According to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn, Raymond Cruz, 32, pleaded guilty on the eve of his scheduled trial to charges of strangulation, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and domestic assault and battery for the beating of his live-in girlfriend.

Cruz was arrested in December 2021 after his girlfriend provided police with footage from a home surveillance camera showing him dragging her down a stairway, beating her with a belt, strangling her on the kitchen floor and locking her out of the home.

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According to Quinn’s office, Cruz “has had four restraining orders filed against him from three separate women and has served jail time in the past for domestic violence.”

In addition to the prison term, Cruz was also sentenced to additional three years of supervised probation.

“Home surveillance video captures the defendant brutally assaulting the victim. This defendant has a history of domestic violence, including the issuance of multiple restraining orders by different women,” Quinn said. “He clearly presents a danger to the victim and the public and needs to be kept off the street to protect her.”