Alleged Boston rape victim fears suspect Matthew Nilo ‘could get away’ after release on bail
A woman who alleges she was raped by serial Boston sex-assault suspect Matthew Nilo fears he could assault “somebody else” once he is released on bail.
The suspect’s attorney, Joseph Cataldo, said Nilo’s family is expected to post bail for his release after a Monday hearing in Suffolk County Superior Court.
“I’m so upset that he’s able to get bail because for the first time… I’ve waited so long to have my day in court with him, and the fact that now he’s able to just go back to his life and walk around for a year, and he could get away, and he could do it to somebody else, it’s just sad,” the woman named Lori, who declined to provide her last name, told reporters outside the courthouse Monday, adding that she understands the court has a “process.”
“I’m just hoping that his case is ironclad and he’s not going to get off,” she continued.
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Matthew Nilo is arraigned on rape charges stemming from assaults in Charlestown in 2007 and 2008 in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, Monday, June 5, 2023. His attorney, Joseph Cataldo, is at left. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)
Nilo’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Boston Police Department and FBI said they linked Nilo, a 35-year-old Boston native, to four sexual assaults that occurred in the Terminal Street area of Charlestown through forensic genealogy and DNA analysis.
Lori, who said she was working as a bar manager in Cambridge at the time of the 2007 attack, alleged that Nilo forced her into a vehicle at gunpoint near Government Center in downtown Boston.
Lori, who was working as a bar manager in Cambridge at the time of the attack, alleged that Nilo forced her into a vehicle at gunpoint near Government Center in downtown Boston in 2007. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)
He then allegedly drove her “all the way to Charlestown,” and when he stopped, she tried to escape, but he caught up to her and raped her.
“That’s why he’s being charged with aggravated rape and kidnapping,” she said.
A person going by the name “Lori” sits in the gallery at Suffolk County Superior court during a hearing for her alleged rapist, Matthew Nilo in Boston, Massachusetts, Monday, June 12, 2023. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)
Cataldo is questioning what he describes as “the suspicious nature in which the DNA was recovered, but we’ll get to that in due course,” he said Monday outside a Suffolk County courtroom.
Joseph Cataldo is questioning what he describes as “the suspicious nature in which the DNA was recovered, but we’ll get to that in due course,” he said Monday outside a Suffolk County courtroom. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)
New Jersey authorities arrested Nilo on May 31, and he was extradited to Boston, where he grew up in the North End.
FBI Boston Special Agent In Charge Joe Bonavolonta said during a May 31 press conference that Nilo’s arrest was “the direct result of the FBI’s use of investigative genetic genealogy,” which he described as “a unique method used to generate new leads in unsolved sex assaults, homicides and other violent crimes.”
Matthew Nilo enters his arraignment at the Hudson County Superior Court on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
He would have been 19 or 20 years old and in college around the time of the assaults, his LinkedIn shows.
The Boston Police Department and FBI linked Matthew Nilo, 35, to a string of rapes in Boston between 2007 and 2008 through forensic genealogy and DNA analysis. (Facebook/Matthew Nilo)
Nilo’s former co-worker told WCVS that he “was normal, a good-looking kid that did well at anything he put his mind to” and described his arrest as “very shocking.”
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The suspect is charged with three counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of assault with intent to rape, and one count of indecent assault and battery.
Nilo’s profile pictures on Facebook dating back to 2007 and 2008 show him holding bottles of booze and partying with friends. (Facebook/Matthew Nilo)
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“Immediately following his arrest, we’ve shared this news with the four sexual assault survivors who have been waiting years to learn the identity of their alleged assailant,” Bonavolonta said following Nilo’s arrest. “While we know today’s arrest of Mr. Nilo cannot erase the harm he allegedly inflicted upon his survivors, we believe we have removed a dangerous threat from our community.”
All four sexual assault cases are “DNA-connected,” Michael Cox, Boston police commissioner and chief, said.
