BROCKTON, Mass. (AP) – A Boston deputy fire chief was ordered held without bail Monday after a prosecutor said he repeatedly pretended to be a police officer to force prostitutes to have sex with him.

Peter Pearson, 51, is charged in three attacks.

During his arraignment in Brockton District Court Monday, prosecutor Sharon Donatelle said Pearson was charged with a third attack on Sunday while he was already being held for a similar alleged assault in February 2005.

Pearson’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, entered a not guilty plea for him. Pearson was ordered held pending a dangerousness hearing Wednesday.

Reddington questioned the credibility of the alleged victims and argued that media coverage had prompted new accusations.

“These individuals have one common trait,” Reddington said. “They’re all prostitutes.”

Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said Pearson has preyed on “vulnerable people.”

The first allegation was made in June when a woman detained by Brockton police told officers she had been sexually assaulted by a patrol officer two weeks earlier. In July, the woman identified Pearson as her attacker.

The most recent accuser said she was walking down Main Street in Brockton in the spring of 2003 when a blue, four-door car began to follow her, Donatelle said in court. The driver, whom the woman recently identified as Pearson, told her he was a state trooper, ordered her to get in car, showed her a gun and assaulted her, Donatelle said.

Pearson had been free on bond for charges of kidnapping and rape and was arrested again at his home in East Bridgewater Friday after the second woman came forward. She alleges that Pearson attacked her in February 2005.

Boston fire officials said Pearson has been placed on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the allegations.