Bail is denied in new rape case against lawyer who was once named a most eligible bachelor
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Bail was denied Thursday for Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer Gary Zerola, who is accused of raping a woman while out on bail on a previous rape charge.
Zerola, 49, of Salem, Massachusetts, is a former prosecutor who was named one of People magazine’s most eligible bachelors in 2001. The new case against him involves an incident that allegedly happened earlier this month, report WHDH, the Associated Press, the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe.
Prosecutors say Zerola met a woman at a Jan. 11 gathering and drove her home to to her Boston apartment with the help of a friend. After leaving, Zerola returned to the apartment and raped the woman early Jan. 12, prosecutors allege. The woman said she awoke to find Zerola sexually assaulting her.
Zerola had posted $10,000 bail in the prior case stemming from a November 2016 incident in which Zerola knew his accuser, according to a prior Boston Herald story.
Zerola was acquitted in 2008 on charges of rape and attempted rape in two cases involving women he met in bars. Prosecutors dropped rape charges in a third case against Zerola the same year, citing credibility problems with the accuser.
Prosecutors in the latest case contended that Zerola “has drawn on his experience as both a criminal defense attorney and a rape defendant to avoid consequences.”
Zerola worked as a prosecutor for a year in Essex County and for two months in Suffolk County more than two decades ago.
