The New Jersey lawyer charged in connection with a series of sexual assaults that took place in Boston about 15 years ago has been released after posting bail, officials with the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department said Thursday.
Bail for 35-year-old Matthew Nilo of Weehawken was set at $500,000. He pleaded not guilty last week to 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. The charges stem from four attacks in Charlestown between August 2007 and December 2008, when Nilo lived in the city.
A prosecutor said authorities helped tie him to the attacks by getting DNA from a drinking glass he had used.
Also this week, a woman who has accused Nilo of raping her 16 years ago in Boston came forward, saying that she felt that her freedom had been taken away from her that night and that she wants to face him in court.
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"It's been horrible. A big part of my life stopped that day," Lori Pinkham told ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview broadcast Wednesday. "I couldn't work. I didn't want to spend time with anybody. Every day, I've lived in fear."
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission. Pinkham appeared on camera with her mother publicly and agreed to be identified for the "Good Morning America" interview.
Pinkham said she was at a club that she was doing promotions for in 2007. She was 23 at the time. As she was walking to her car, she said Nilo pulled up in his car and asked if she needed a ride. She said she was OK — and then she saw he had a gun in his hand.
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"He just said, 'Get in the car.' And I just got really scared, and I got in the car," she recalled.
She said he drove and stopped in Charlestown. She said she tried to run away, but he caught up and raped her.
When asked if she was confident Nilo was the guy, Pinkham said, "Yes, absolutely." She said she'd face him in court to let him know that she isn't scared of him.
She said she would testify against him if asked by prosecutors.
Nilo, upon being released, is required to wear a tracking device, surrender his passport, have no contact with any victims or witnesses, and stay away from the area where the assaults happened.
Nilo was arrested in late May. He is due back in court on July 13.
