BRIDGEWATER MA March 9 2020— A Bridgewater State University professor has been suspended after he was charged this week with raping a female student inside his office at the college in October.
Nicholas R. Pirelli, 36, of 46 Cliffside Drive, Plymouth, was arrested Wednesday by the Bridgewater State University Police Department in connection with an alleged rape that occurred on the campus on Oct. 20, 2019.
Pirelli pleaded not guilty in Brockton District Court on Thursday to charges of rape and indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14. Judge Scott D. Peterson set Pirelli’s bail at $2,500, which has since been posted for him to be released.
The allegations were brought to Bridgewater State police late Tuesday night. A female student, who is not a student of Pirelli’s, told police that she had met him last October through the website seeking.com, which matches “sugar babies” and “sugar daddies,” according to court documents. Pirelli offered to “spoil” the student, a police report states.
The woman told police she initially sent photos and videos, some depicting herself in the nude and in various stages of undress, to Pirelli after he requested “risky” pictures, the report states. When he learned that the woman was a student at the college, Pirelli allegedly told her, “We will have to be discreet.”
Pirelli also sent a nude photograph to the woman, the report states, and requested that they meet in person. Court documents state that Pirelli was using the website where the two met to find someone who would dominate him with whips and chains and he sent a photograph of his sex toy “collection” to the woman.
The week before the alleged rape, Pirelli sent $5 to the woman through the Venmo mobile phone app as a “test,” court documents state. Days later, the two agreed to meet at a Dunkin’ Donuts in West Bridgewater to “see if they had a good connection in person,” the report states. Pirelli sent the woman $20 through the app to cover her taxi ride to the meeting, it states.
Just three days later, Pirelli sent the woman $50 through the app for her to go shopping, the report states. Later that day, about 9 p.m., Pirelli contacted the student and offered to help her with an essay she was writing, court documents state. Pirelli told her he was in his office inside the Maxwell Library on campus.
The woman told police Pirelli locked the door behind her when she got to the office. The two worked on her essay for about a half-hour, with Pirelli sitting at his desk and the woman behind the desk in a beanbag chair. Pirelli then stood up, turned around and “abruptly leaned over the victim,” who was still in the beanbag chair, the report states.
Pirelli leaned down toward the woman and kissed her, inserting his tongue into her mouth, the report states. The woman told police she felt trapped because she was in a low-sitting chair that was backed into the corner of the room.
“As Pirelli learned in, the victim placed her hands in front of her chest with her palms facing outwards, in an effort to prevent Pirelli from coming any closer or laying on top of her,” the report states.
The woman told police Pirelli then forcibly performed a sex act on her, the report states.
The woman told police she did not intend to engage in any sexual activity with Pirelli and that she only wanted help with her essay and résumé. The woman told police she felt trapped, nervous, weird and uncomfortable throughout the encounter. The woman did report the incident to her two roommates the night it occurred, court documents state.
“Detectives found the victim credible throughout their interviews with her,” Morgan wrote.
Bridgewater State police interviewed Pirelli on Wednesday. He initially told police he didn’t believe he knew the woman making an accusation against him. He denied ever using Venmo to send students money.
Pirelli later told police that he “may have” met the woman outside of a classroom, the report states. The detectives asked Pirelli if she was ever a guest in his office, to which he replied, “maybe,” it states. Pirelli initially declined to answer whether he had ever used the website seeking.com, but later stated “he did not have an account anymore,” the report states.
“When confronted with the report of inappropriate touching, Pirelli stated, ‘That is extreme,’ and stated that he did nothing wrong,” Morgan wrote.
Pirelli told police it was possible he had texted the woman but denied having any physical encounters with her in his office. After police say Pirelli admitted to “maybe” meeting the woman online, he requested an attorney.
“Detectives found Pirelli to be not credible and noted that he had apparently lied when asked questions regarding matters that were already on record or easily confirmable, thus indicating apparent consciousness of guilty on Pirelli’s part,” Morgan wrote.
Pirelli was arrested after the interview and booked at the Bridgewater State police station.
Police say they later reviewed communications between Pirelli and the student that showed they maintained some communication following the Oct. 20, 2019, incident. They met with the woman again, who told police she didn’t want to meet with Pirelli again and only communicated with him to “appease him,” the report states. She said because of Pirelli’s status as a professor, she continued to communicate with him to “let him down easy” to not hurt her chances of obtaining employment through the university, the report states.
On Thursday, during Pirelli’s arraignment, the Plymouth County district attorney’s office prosecutor requested Pirelli’s bail be set at $10,000, with conditions that he stay away and have no contact with the alleged victim and Bridgewater State University. The judge set his bail at $2,500 and imposed the stay away and no contact orders.
Bridgewater State University told The Enterprise on Friday that Pirelli was a temporary, full-time, non-tenured faculty member in communications studies.
“He has been placed on administrative leave with pay,” a university spokesman said. “He has been asked not to come to campus without permission from the university.”
The university said it investigated “immediately” after the allegations were made Tuesday night and Pirelli was arrested within 24 hours.
“Bridgewater State has zero tolerance for misconduct, abuse or violence against any members of our campus community and is committed to preventing and holding accountable anyone responsible for acts of physical and sexual assault,” the statement says. “We are working closely with the district attorney’s office in their prosecution of this alleged crime.”
Pirelli is due back in court on April 30 for a probable cause hearing.
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