A judge orders a former
Pawtucket police officer held without bail on charges of raping and choking his
ex-girlfriend.
North Smithfield police say
Stephen Ricco attacked his girlfriend on Thanksgiving Day.
A statewide grand jury on
Wednesday reported an indictment against a former Pawtucket police officer
accused of raping and choking his girlfriend.
Stephen Ricco, 41, of North
Smithfield, was indicted on charges of first-degree domestic sexual assault,
one count of strangulation and two counts of simple assault. He is currently
held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned in Providence County
Superior Court on April 9.
In January, the woman told a
judge during a bail hearing in Kent Country District Court that the couple was
enjoying a night out and had some drinks at a bar in North Smithfield when they
started arguing.
The woman said Ricco became
agitated over a late-night breakfast at Denny's.
The woman said she didn't call
911 or run for help because she was scared. Instead, she went back to Ricco's
condo in North Smithfield. She claimed Ricco roughed her up, punched her and
raped her.
"I just wanted to go home
and he wouldn't let me go home, and he made me have sex with him and he bit my
face," the woman told the judge in January.
NBC 10 does not identify
alleged victims of sexual assault.
The woman reported the alleged
rape to North Smithfield police the following day.
In 2012, Ricco pleaded no
contest to an unrelated charge of disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to
community service and anger management counseling.