Feds Say Attorney Was Boston Serial Rapist

Matthew Nilo allegedly attacked four women in 2007, 2008
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 31, 2023 3:06 PM CDT
Feds Say Attorney Was Boston Serial Rapist
The FBI's Joseph Bonavolonta, joined by Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox and Suffolk County District Atty Kevin Hayden, announces the arrest.   (Boston FBI)

A 35-year-old New Jersey-based attorney's alleged past caught up with him on Tuesday afternoon when he was arrested in connection with a series of sex attacks in Boston in 2007 and 2008, the FBI's Boston office says. Matthew J. Nilo, a former Boston resident, has been 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, Fox reports. Investigators say Nilo was 19 to 20 years old at the time of the attacks and may have been a college student. The charges relate to attacks on four women between August 2007 and December 2008. Nilo was arrested at his home in Weehawken, NJ.

"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,” said Boston FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta Tuesday evening, per the Boston Herald. Bonavolonta, speaking at Boston Police Headquarters, said that while the arrest of Nilo "cannot erase the harm he allegedly inflicted upon his survivors, we believe we have removed a dangerous threat from our community." Cyber insurance company Cowbell says Nilo has been suspended from his job as a claims counsel, the Boston Globe reports.

Bonavolonta and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said the case was cracked with the use of investigative genetic genealogy. Investigators believe Nilo, who has lived in New York, Wisconsin, and California as well as New Jersey and Massachusetts, may have carried out other sex attacks. Officials say anyone with information on possible attacks should contact the Boston Police Department or the FBI. (More serial rapists stories.)

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