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Saugus sexual assault suspect was freed in earlier cases

Judge declined to hold man now charged with sexual assault

Rashad Deihim pleaded not guilty to a variety of charges Monday and was ordered held in jail while awaiting trial.Aram Boghosian for the Globe

LYNN — When Rashad Deihim faced charges last October of violating a restraining order taken out by his former girlfriend, he got a stern warning from a judge in Lynn District Court before he was freed on $500 bail.

“I got to tell you: If you’re arrested again and charged with any new offenses and you violate that restraining order, you’re going to be held for 60 days without bail,” said First Justice Albert S. Conlon, according to a recording of the hearing, which took place Oct. 4, 2013.

“I’m going to be the person to hold you. You understand that,” Conlon said.

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Ten months later, in August, Deihim was before the judge again, after the teen allegedly dragged his girlfriend with his car. And the judge declined to detain him, over the objections of prosecutors who wanted him held because they considered him dangerous.

Now, Deihim, a 19-year-old Saugus resident, is locked up, charged with participating last month in an alleged sexual assault of an intoxicated 16-year-old girl that was recorded and distributed on the social media application Snapchat. The girl who was attacked, authorities say, probably would have died if not for the actions of a witness who received the videos on Snapchat and notified police.

Conlon — who allowed Deihim to be freed two times before the recent alleged assault — is prohibited from discussing his actions in Deihim’s case by the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct, a state Trial Court spokeswoman said.

A spokeswoman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett said prosecutors carefully considered Deihim’s case when they asked him to be held on dangerousness grounds in August, after the case in which he was accused of dragging his girlfriend.

“I believe our actions with regards to this particular defendant speak for themselves,” said the spokeswoman, Carrie Kimball Monahan.

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When Deihim appeared before Conlon last October, a prosecutor wanted his bail revoked in a previous assault and battery case. At the time, he was in court to face accusations that he had violated a restraining order taken out by an ex-girlfriend, according to a recording of the hearing.

That restraining order stemmed from an incident that occurred on Sept. 29, 2013, when Deihim allegedly went through the drive-through window at a McDonald’s restaurant in Saugus, where the woman worked, and made eye contact with her despite the order against him, according to a police report filed in court.

At the time, Deihim was free on personal recognizance after being accused of assaulting his mother on Sept. 10, 2013, court records show. His mother obtained a restraining order against her son the same day, court records show.

In making her case to Conlon, the prosecutor, who does not identify herself by name in the recording of the hearing, said Deihim abused alcohol, marijuana, and the drug molly, and had been civilly committed to undergo substance abuse treatment.

She said Deihim had sought to intimidate both his mother and ex-girlfriend.

His defense attorney, Debra A. DelVecchio, said Deihim denied violating the restraining order, but she acknowledged her client faced mounting legal trouble.

“He’s got a lot of stuff open right now and none of it is good,” she said, according to the recording.

DelVecchio argued Deihim was making progress by completing a driving course and 22 days of inpatient treatment for drug abuse, and was close to earning his high school equivalency degree.

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Conlon was direct with Deihim, according to the recording.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a young man 18 years old with two different restraining orders against him,” he said. “If you have an issue with women, you got to get that straightened out.”

Conlon dismissed the assault and restraining order violation cases on Jan. 13, court records show. In both cases, “failure to prosecute” was listed as the reason for dismissing the matters.

But Deihim was back before Conlon on Aug. 8 of this year, when prosecutors asked that he be held on grounds of dangerousness and have his bail revoked in a pending drug case, court records show.

Prosecutors made the request after Deihim allegedly dragged a different girlfriend, a 20-year-old Wakefield woman, with his car on Aug. 6, according to a police report filed in court.

During a hearing, Saugus Police Officer Anthony M. Gaieski testified to the woman’s account of being dragged by Deihim’s car during a fight, only freeing herself after biting Deihim’s hand, according to a recording.

Gaieski also testified that the woman told him that after freeing herself, she got into a fistfight with Kailyn Bonia, 18, who was a passenger in Deihim’s car.

Bonia faces charges in the most recent sex assault case and has pleaded not guilty.

Deihim’s attorney David Newton argued that the Wakefield woman instigated the August incident, calling another passenger in Deihim’s car to testify, according to the recording.

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That passenger, Timothy Cyckowski, 17, claimed the Wakefield woman jumped onto the hood of the car, reached inside, and punched Deihim. When Deihim stopped the car, Cyckowski said, the woman fell off the vehicle.

Cyckowski has been charged in juvenile court with recording the Sept. 3 sex assault and distributing it on Snapchat. His father pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he destroyed the cellphone his son allegedly used to make the recording.

Conlon declined in August to hold Deihim on dangerousness grounds in the car dragging incident and rejected a request to revoke his bail on a pending drug case.

He warned Deihim, however, not to cross him again.

“If you’re back before me for anything, I’m going to hold you. You understand? It’s time you slow down,” he said. “You don’t want to see me again.”

A handcuffed Deihim was back in Lynn District Court on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, assault with intent to rape, indecent assault and battery, and posing a child for sexual photos. Judge James Wexler ordered him held in jail on dangerousness grounds while he awaits trial.

Related coverage:

Saugus father faces charge in son’s assault case

Saugus man accused of sex attack on teen


Laura Crimaldi can be reached at laura.crimaldi@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @lauracrimaldi.