BOSTON (WHDH) - A New Jersey man charged in connection with a series of sexual assaults in Charlestown in the 2000s was arraigned on additional charges stemming from assaults that happened in the North End during the same window of time.
The charges Matthew Nilo, 35, now face include one count of rape, one count of aggravated rape, three counts of assault with intent to rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery, according to Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. On Thursday, he pleaded not guilty and a judge ordered he be held on $50,000 cash bail.
The decision came nearly a month after Nilo’s June 15 release, when he posted $500,000 bail.
The latest charges stem from five attacks on four women in the North End. One of the victims was attacked twice, 11 days apart. Authorities said the attacks occurred in January 2007, July 2007, January 2008 and July 2008 in the area near Charter Street and Cops Hill Terrace.
Prosecutors say DNA evidence links Nilo to the attacks. His attorney, Joseph Cataldo, has been questioning the legality of how the DNA evidence was obtained ever since his client was brought up on the first set of charges.
“We will be filing a motion to suppress the illegal seizure of his DNA, which was clearly done without a warrant – we have now figured that out,” Cataldo said while walking out of court. “I have not received any discovery on the new charges – we’ll be reviewing that.”
Prosecutors previously described how Nilo had been placed under surveillance in early 2023 while living in New Jersey and working at a New York City law firm. FBI agents obtained samples of his DNA via “various utensils and drinking glasses they watched the defendant use at a corporate event.”
“From one of the glasses, the Boston Police crime lab was able to obtain a male DNA profile, which [was] found to match the suspect profile from the three Terminal Street rapes,” a prosecutor told the court during proceedings in early June.
Prosecutors also revealed surveillance video from 2008 that shows a blue sedan in the area prior to one of the assaults.
“This vehicle can be identified on surveillance video as a Honda Accord, 1994-1997,” said Lynn Feigenbaum, assistant district attorney. “At the time of the assault, a blue Honda Accord was registered to the defendant.”
Nilo previously pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned on charges stemming from sexual assaults that took place in Charlestown in 2007 and 2008. The charges included aggravated rape, kidnapping, and sexual assault and battery.
The 35 year old is slated to be back in court on Sept. 14 for a pre-trial hearing.
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