Belmont Man Pleads Guilty to 2016 Sexual Assault

BELMONT - Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin have announced that Zachary St. Paul, 35, of Belmont, pleaded guilty today in Middlesex Superior Court to sexual assault charges in connection with the 2016 rape of a woman who is known to him. St. Paul pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery of a person over the age of 14, one count of photographing an unsuspecting nude person and willful dissemination of a photograph of a nude person.

Judge Kathe Tuttman sentenced the defendant to nine to twelve years in State Prison and five years probation. As part of the terms of probation Judge Tuttman ordered the defendant to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet, to stay away from, and have no contact with the victim, to undergo a sexual offender evaluation and comply with any recommended follow up care.

On June 12, 2016, Belmont Police were notified by the victim that she had been sexually assaulted the night before in the defendant's Belmont home. The victim told police she had been out with the defendant on the night of June 11, 2016, and when she awoke next to the defendant the next morning the defendant informed the victim they had engaged in sexual intercourse. The victim had no recollection of this event and had no memory of returning to the defendant's home.

The victim borrowed the defendant's phone on which she located photos of herself without clothes on. A search warrant was executed on the defendant's phone by Belmont Police who found multiple still photos of the victim in a state of undress as well as videos of the defendant sexually assaulting her while she was unconscious.

Through their investigation Belmont Police also learned that the defendant had shared a photograph of the victim from his phone with another person. The individual who received the photograph from the defendant was interviewed by police. Police ensured that the photograph had been deleted and not shared.

The prosecutor assigned to this case was Assistant District Attorney Kate Kleimola. The Victim Witness Advocate was Helena Clarke.