Lawyer pleads guilty to raping unconscious client
A criminal defense lawyer in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty earlier this month to raping an unconscious client.
Norristown lawyer Vincent Cirillo Jr. pleaded guilty Oct. 4 to rape of an unconscious person after jury selection had started for his trial, Philly.com, the Delco Times and CBS Philly report. Prosecutors dropped four felony charges in exchange for his guilty plea to rape.
As Cirillo left the courtroom, he said he pleaded guilty for his family, according to Philly.com. “I didn’t want to risk the maximum amount of exposure I was facing if convicted,” he said.
The client had told police that Cirillo came to her home last year to discuss representation in a criminal matter, according to the arrest affidavit. She alleged that Cirillo encouraged her to drink alcohol and she didn’t remember what happened later in the evening. She told police she suspected Cirillo had put a drug in her drink, although he was not charged with that.
In a later meeting captured by police surveillance, Cirillo allegedly told the woman he had used a condom and he had no venereal diseases. Prosecutors planned to introduce at trial photos on Cirillo’s phone showing the apparently unconscious woman on her bed.
Related article:
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer is charged with raping client”
