D'Angelo trial is set for August

Rick Pfeiffer, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·2 min read

Mar. 9—LOCKPORT — Nicholas D'Angelo, a Falls attorney facing a dozen criminal sex crime charges, is now scheduled to face a jury in his case in August.

At a brief virtual hearing conducted Monday morning, State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr. set a trial date of Aug. 2, while also scheduling further pre-trial proceedings in the case for May 4.

D'Angelo, 27, has pleaded not guilty to a 12-count grand jury indictment that accuses him of multiple rapes and sex crimes and patronizing an underage prostitute. The indictment was handed up by a Niagara County grand jury, which heard evidence presented by Assistant Erie County District Attorney Lynette Reda, who is acting as a special prosecutor in the case.

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case, in October, after then-Niagara County District Attorney Caroline Wojtaszek recused herself from an investigation triggered by a civil lawsuit filed against D'Angelo. Wojtaszek, who was elected as a Niagara County Court judge in November, asked for the appointment of a special prosecutor in the matter because of D'Angelo's work as a "volunteer" on her judicial campaign.

Reda was taped by Flynn to handle the actual prosecution of the case.

The indictment charges D'Angelo with one count of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual act and a single count of second-degree unlawful imprisonment in connection with a woman identified as "Victim 1." The crime are alleged to have occurred in fall 2016.

He faces one count of first-degree criminal sexual abuse in in connection with a fall 2018 incident involving a woman identified as "Victim 2."

And he's charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual act, two counts of third-degree rape and three counts of third-degree patronizing a person for prostitution in connections with encounters between August and October 2019 involving a woman identified as "Victim 3", a prostitute who was under the age of 17 during her first two meetings with D'Angelo and who Flynn said had just turned 17 before her last meeting with him.

If D'Angelo were to be convicted on all 12 counts in the indictment, he would face a potential prison term of 35 years.

Reda has described the evidence in the case as "extremely disturbing."

D'Angelo has steadfastly denied the allegations and has indicated that he intends to take his case to a jury.