Nicholas Edward Rossi Found Guilty of Rape
Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced a Third District Court jury found Nicholas Edward Rossi guilty of first-degree felony rape.
In 2008, the defendant met M.B.online, and they dated between November and December of that year. Shortly after they started dating, the defendant told M.S. that they should get married, and they got wedding rings. M.B. said that the defendant became emotionally and verbally abusive. Around December 2008, the couple went to the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City. While there, the defendant was rude to M.B., so she took off the wedding ring and walked to her car. After M.B. got inside and locked the car doors, the defendant began screaming and hitting the car. Eventually, the defendant got into the car, and M.B. drove him home. When they got to the defendant’s home, he refused to get out of the car and said he would call the cops on her and say she hit him. When the defendant calmed down, he asked M.B. to go inside his house. They went inside the defendant’s room. He shut the door and would not let her leave. They argued about breaking up and not getting married. During the argument, the defendant threw M.B. on the bed and raped her.
Today, a jury found the defendant guilty of first-degree felony rape, punishable by five years to life in the Utah State Correctional Facility. Sentencing on the case is set for October 20, 2025.
“We are grateful to the survivor in this case for her willingness to come forward, years after this attack took place. We appreciate her patience as we worked to bring the defendant back to Salt Lake County so that this trial could take place and she could get justice. It took courage and bravery to take the stand and confront her attacker to hold him accountable,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “We thank our prosecutors, Brandon Simmons and Clint Heiner, as well as our victim advocate Cami Heng, for their years of dedication to this case and their outstanding work that helped bring about this verdict. We appreciate the work of Derek Coats at the Utah Department of Public Safety for conducting the investigation that led to this successful prosecution. We thank all our other government partners who assisted in the extradition of the defendant back to Utah to ensure he would face his accuser in a court of law.
Every survivor of sexual assault gets to choose when they tell their story. If you are a survivor of sexual assault and have been suffering in silence, when you are ready, we ask that you come forward and report it. If it isn’t reported, it can’t be investigated. If it isn’t investigated, it can’t be prosecuted, and if it isn’t prosecuted, justice cannot be served.”