Malden man who attempted rape in Fells gets 3-7 years

By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent

A Malden man was found guilty Tuesday in the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl as she jogged through the Middlesex Fells Reservation last September, a crime that was stopped because of a heroic passerby, the office of Middlsex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.'s office.

Yuri Mikalixen, 23, was convicted on charges of assault with intent to rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and kidnapping.

Judge Leila Kern sentenced him to three to seven years in state prison for the assault with intent to rape and kidnapping charges. He was also given five years probation after his prison sentence concludes on the condition that Mikalixen register as a sex offender, undergo sex offender evaluation and followup treatment, stay away from the victim and her family, and wear a GPS monitoring bracelet.

He was also placed on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer, according to Leone's office.

According to authorities, Mikalixen was lying in wait Sept. 5 when a 16-year-old jogger passed on a public trail. Mikalixen hit her in the back of the head before attempting to drag the girl into the woods, as she screamed for help.

The crime was prevented only when a man, Robert Casey, 42, and his dog Elway, were jogging nearby, heard the screams, and scared off Mikalixen, who was soon tracked and captured by police as he ran through a Malden street.

Casey was honored by the Massachusetts State Police for his heroic actions in a state house ceremony in May.

"This defendant violently attacked a female jogger on a public trail, with the intention of raping her,” said Leone in a statement. “We commend the Good Samaritan who ran in the direction of the young woman’s cries for help and came to the victim's aid."