Lawyer who withdrew guilty plea is convicted in rape of unconscious client
A former Norristown, Pennsylvania, lawyer was convicted on Wednesday of raping an intoxicated client who passed out during his visit to her home.
Vincent Cirillo Jr. of Norristown was convicted on charges of rape and sexual assault, despite his testimony that he did not have intercourse with the woman after she passed out, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The 57-year-old Cirillo previously pleaded guilty to a single charge of rape in October, but withdrew the guilty plea on the date of his scheduled sentencing in December. The guilty plea carried a potential sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison; he now faces possibly more prison time.
In a conversation secretly recorded by detectives, Cirillo had told the woman they did have intercourse. In his testimony, Cirillo maintained he told the woman they had intercourse because he didn’t want to disappoint her. Actually, Cirillo said, they had a consensual sexual interaction, but there was no intercourse because the woman “fell asleep on me.” He also said he had pictures of the unconscious woman on his cellphone because he took them while waiting for her to wake up.
Cirillo said the woman had invited him over for a “special night” and he had been set up, according to a prior account of his testimony by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Other charges still pending against Cirillo allege he posed as the woman’s lawyer to try to obtain confidential civil court documents that pertained to her, the Times Herald reports. He is charged with identity theft, conspiracy to commit identity theft, forgery and falsely impersonating a privately employed person. Cirillo lost his law license in November, the Inquirer reports.
