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Lawyer Convicted of Raping Unconscious Client With More Charges Pending

By William Vogeler, Esq. on February 20, 2017 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

The young woman thought her lawyer was coming over to discuss a case. Instead, they drank and he raped her while she lay unconscious.

That was evil enough, resulting in felony rape and sexual assault convictions for Vincent A. Cirillo, Jr. The 57-year-old man, who awaits sentencing in a Pennsylvania courtroom, will probably spend the rest of his life in prison.

"It's unfortunate," he said as he left the courtroom in handcuffs.

A Tragedy

But that's not the end of this tragedy. In another bizarre twist, Cirillo allegedly took advantage of his position by attempting to impersonate the woman's attorney to get confidential records in a child custody case. He faces separate charges on those allegations.

Cirillo, the son of a late Superior Court judge, seemed destined for failure in the case. After raping his client and attempting to impersonate her lawyer, he withdrew his plea to lesser charges and committed the cardinal sin of testifying at trial.

"He gave his rendition of what happened," said his lawyer Nino Tinari. "I think that was important to him."

Tinari called the case a tragedy for his client and the victim.

Not to Disappoint

As Cirillo's wife and daughter sat in the audience, Cirillo told jurors that he went to his client's apartment for a "special night" of drinking and consensual sex. He gave graphic details of their sexual encounter, but said they did not have intercourse.

"She says, 'You're not going anywhere tonight, you're going upstairs with me,' " he testified.

Contradicting an audio recording by police in which he told the 22-year-old women they had sex while she was asleep, Cirillo told jurors he lied because he did not want to disappoint her. He also explained away cell phone photos he took of the woman sleeping in her apartment, saying she "fell asleep on me."

The woman, her boyfriend and others testified against Cirillo. She said that she thought she had been drugged that night, and her boyfriend said he found her too intoxicated to move.

Cirillo, whose law license has been suspended, faces up to 52 years in prison on the sex convictions and up to 23 years on the impersonation charges.

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