ITEM PHOTO BY GAYLA CAWLEY
The family of Rashad Deihim reacts following his guilty verdict on Tuesday in Essex County Superior Court.
BY GAYLA CAWLEY
SALEM — An Essex County Superior Court jury found the two Saugus Snapchat assailants guilty of raping a drunk and drugged 16-year-old girl in the woods behind an elementary school.
Rashad Deihim, now 21, was convicted of assault to rape, indecent assault and battery, kidnapping and posing a child in the nude. A guilty verdict was also returned on Kailyn Bonia, now 20, for assault to rape, indecent assault and battery and kidnapping. They will be sentenced in September.
The pair pled not guilty to the 2014 incident near the Waybright Elementary School in Saugus while another teen recorded the attack and shared it on Snapchat, a popular messaging app. They said the sex was consensual. Neither testified and the defense did not call any witnesses.
Before his verdict was read, Deihim gave his father a hug. As the guilty verdicts were read from the 12-member jury, his mother sobbed. Deihim’s bail was revoked and he was taken into custody. Bonia had been in custody throughout the trial.
“I want to thank the jury for their careful attention to the evidence in this case,” said District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett in a statement. “I must also commend the victim for her courage in facing her assailants in court. I hope that, with this verdict, she is assured that what happened to her was not her fault.”
In an email, Bonia’s attorney, James Caramanica, said he was disappointed with the verdict but respects the process.
“The jury sat through an emotional trial and it seemed clear they worked hard,” he wrote.
Deihim’s attorney, Stephen Neyman, could not be reached for comment.
An alternate female juror, who declined to identify herself and was not involved in the deliberation, said the trial was “sad” and “heartbreaking.”
Timothy Cyckowski, 19, of Saugus, pleaded guilty in Lynn Juvenile Court earlier this year to filming the assault and sharing the videos on Snapchat. He was committed to the Department of Youth Services until he turns 20 and then must serve four years of probation.
His father, Matthew Cyckowski, 39, pleaded guilty to misleading a police investigation by destroying his son’s phone. He was sentenced to two years of probation.
Sydee Enos, now 18, the former best friend of the victim, received the Snapchat videos sent by Cyckowski and showed them to her mother, Michelle Enos. She testified that three videos were sent and she was able to take screenshots, or pictures, of them. One video appeared to depict Bonia holding the victim down by her neck, while kissing and fondling her. She told the court another video showed Bonia pushing the victim’s head towards Deihim’s exposed genitals to perform a sex act.
The Enos family alerted Saugus police, who responded and found the victim half-dressed and incoherent.
Last week, the victim testified that she does not recall much of the encounter, but woke up in pain at the hospital. She was not in court for the verdict.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.