Dorchester catfishing suspect faces more charges

A Dorchester man already charged with robbing several men who thought he was a woman seeking an assignation is now charged with robbing even more men like that, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Rakeem Austin, 30, was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court today following his indictment on nine counts of armed robbery. Between his initial arrest in November and his indictment, officials found three additional victims, the DA's office reports.

Clerk Magistrate Lisa Medeiros set bail at $75,000.

[Assistant District Attorney Greer] Spatz told the court that the nine victims arranged meet ups through a dating app, expecting to meet a woman who went by the user name "Lizzy S" or "Candy B." At each of those arranged meetings, the victims instead encountered Austin, who racked a handgun, ordered each man to the ground, prosecutors said. He stole items including cash, wallets, cell phones, and jewelry.

Those armed robberies occurred on Oct. 2 at 60 Edson St.; on Oct. 7, Oct. 14, Nov. 11 and Nov. 21 at 33 Whitman St.; on Oct. 23 at 33 Woolson St.; Oct. 29 at 7 Strathcona Rd.; and on Nov. 6 and Nov. 10 at 35 Edson St.

In the course of their investigation, Boston Police detectives obtained account information of the dating app profiles for "Lizzy S" and "Candy B" that were used to communicate with the victims. Both accounts listed a phone number that was also linked to Austin.

At the time of the robberies, Austin was wearing a GPS monitor while free on bail in a Suffolk Superior Court case charging him in connection with a series of breaking and entering incidents. GPS records placed Austin in the area of each of the armed robberies at the times they occurred, prosecutors said.

Hours after the Nov. 21 robbery occurred, Austin was arrested at an Edson Street home near the scene of all of the robberies. When he was taken into custody, Austin was carrying a phone belonging to the victim of the Nov. 21 robbery, as well as the phone linked to the dating app accounts used to communicate with all nine victims, prosecutors said.

Innocent, etc.