First of 4 Defendants Convicted in UMass Gang Rape

Emmanuel Bile, 21, of Pittsfield, was found guilty in Hampshire Superior Court of two counts of aggravated rape

The first of four men being tried on charges they raped a University of Massachusetts Amherst student in her dorm room was convicted Wednesday on two counts but found not guilty on a third.

Emmanuel Bile, 21, of Pittsfield, was found guilty in Hampshire Superior Court of two counts of aggravated rape and acquitted of rape by joint venture.

Bile's attorney, David Pixley, told the Daily Hampshire Gazette he will appeal the guilty verdicts. Bile is to be sentenced Wednesday.

The men, then 17 and 18, are accused of raping the woman in October 2012 when she was incapacitated by alcohol. The teens weren't UMass students, though Bile knew the woman.

She had told them not to visit that night, but another student let them into the dorm. The incident led the university to overhaul security procedures.

The men are being tried separately. Adam Liccardi, 20, and Justin King, 21, both of Pittsfield, and Caleb Womack, 20, of Windsor Locks, Connecticut, face three charges each of aggravated rape. Liccardi faces an additional rape charge.

The woman testified she drank alcohol and smoked marijuana with the men, but she didn't consent to sex as they claim. She said she was very drunk and having trouble standing when her two female friends left her with the four men. She said the men undressed her and raped her. She said she was so drunk she couldn't speak or move.

Bile testified he had been out of the woman's room much of the night and didn't see her drinking. He said she was "tipsy" but awake and consenting when he had sex with her, though she never spoke.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us