NYC cyber attorney Matthew Nilo charged in connection with 3 Boston rapes

WEEHAWKEN, Hudson County (WABC) — Matthew Nilo, a cyber attorney in Manhattan, will appear in court Thursday, but not to defend a client.

Nilo has been charged with a series of rapes in Boston. Investigators pinned Nilo to the rapes with a DNA sample.

The 35-year-old was arrested at his Weehawken home on Tuesday. Authorities in Boston say he’s the suspect in three separate rapes that occurred between 2007 and 2008 there.

“While we know today’s arrest of Mr. Nilo cannot erase the harm he allegedly inflicted upon his survivors, we believe we have removed a dangerous threat from our community,” FBI Boston’s Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta said.

Nilo was identified to law enforcement through family members who voluntarily sent DNA samples to a genealogy database, like “23 and Me.”

The practice is controversial and the subject of at least one lawsuit in New Jersey and is currently banned in New York. However, this case happened in Massachusetts and the local district attorney is praising investigators.

“Investigators never stopped analyzing evidence, collecting information and running down leads in order to bring dangerous offenders to justice,” Suffolk County, Massachusetts District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

Nilo is expected to be in Hudson County Superior Court Thursday morning.

His Manhattan employer, Cowbell Cyber, says he was hired in January 2023, but has been suspended pending further investigation.

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