'Most eligible bachelor' attorney who raped sleeping woman gets sentenced after years of allegations and acquittals

Former prosecutor Gary Zerola appears outside of a courtroom in Boston in July 2024 after being found guilty for the rape of a 21-year-old woman several years ago (YouTube/WCVB).

Former Boston prosecutor Gary Zerola, once named in People as one of the nation’s most eligible bachelors, has been sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for the rape of a 21-year old woman in early 2021.

A jury took just hours to convict Zerola in June after prosecutors laid out evidence about the sexual assault that unfolded in January 2021 after Zerola spent lavishly on alcohol for a night out with his then-girlfriend and their friend. After dropping off the friend her house, he returned in the wee hours of the morning to rape her as she slept.

According to reporting from inside the courtroom by Boston CBS affiliate WBZ, a state prosecutor read an impact statement from the woman Perola assaulted. She opted not to attend the crowded sentencing hearing.

“I’ve experienced an extreme sense of paranoia, every time I’m in my apartment, my door is deadbolted and I live in constant fear that someone will enter without my permission and hurt me again,” the victim impact statement said.

Prosecutors said Zerola, now 52 years old, spent $2,000 on alcohol for himself and the women on the night of the assault, The Associated Press reported.

Zerola was an assistant district attorney in Essex County in Massachusetts for a year and later, he served eight weeks in the Suffolk County district attorney’s office in 2000.

He has faced rape accusations repeatedly.

According to MassLive.com, he faced rape charges in 2023 in Suffolk County and was acquitted. He was charged in three separate sexual assault and rape cases between 2006 and 2016. He was acquitted in all of those case including for the 2016 incident which similarly involved the alleged raping of a then-girlfriend’s co-worker. That victim too was asleep during the attack. She had fallen asleep on a couch after a party.

The five to 10 year sentence was above what Perola’s defense wanted — they asked for two to three years, according to WBZ. It was also well below the maximum sentence of 20 years that state prosecutors sought.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden spoke at a press conference after the sentencing and commended the victim for coming forward.

Suffolk County assistant district attorney Ian Polumbaum also said prosecutors were “gratified that the jury validated what happened to the survivor in this case.”

Inside a packed courtroom, the local outlet reported that many of the friends and family of Zerola’s other alleged victims were in attendance.

Spectators Shawna Carroll and Erica Barnes told WBZ that they welcomed the sentence though they wished it were longer.

Since it was Perola’s first conviction however, the women said they understood the judge’s decision and called it “fair.”

Zerola attorneys have said that they would appeal. In this case, Zerola faced three charges including rape. He was acquitted of an aggravated rape charge as well as a burglary charge. He was ordered held until sentencing.

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