Sen. Marzilli Indicted for Allegedly Accosting Four Women

State Senate Launches Ethics Investigation Following Indictments

Story Updated 10:15AM Wednesday, July 2, 2008

– Allison Goldsberry

State Senator Jim Marzilli (D-Arlington) has been indicted by a Middlesex Grand Jury for allegedly accosting and attempting to sexually assault four women on June 3 in Lowell.

Sen. Marzilli, 50, has been charged with four counts of annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex, and one count each of attempting to commit a crime (indecent assault and battery), disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.

“These are troubling allegations in which Senator Marzilli is alleged to have engaged in a string of highly inappropriate and sexually explicit acts against four separate women,” said Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone.

Sen. Marzilli was arrested in Lowell on June 3 after allegedly harassing several women, including attempting to grope a woman on a park bench.

According to authorities, at approximately 11AM on June 3 the first female victim was waiting outside the Lowell Community Health Center when Sen. Marzilli allegedly approached the woman and said “The sex is sweet, the sex is sweet, you want it, and you want to go with me.” The woman was scared and walked into the health center to get away from Sen. Marzilli.

A half hour later Sen. Marzilli allegedly approached another woman who was walking along Jackson street, came up behind her, and said “Oh, baby, you are so beautiful, your body is perfect, your butt is so perfect.” The woman said Sen. Marzilli continued to follow her and say things to her as she tried to get away from him, so she yelled at him, “Listen, take $20, go up to Merrimack Street after 5 p.m. and get yourself a hooker.”

Later that afternoon Sen. Marzilli allegedly accosted a woman waiting for a bus on Central Street. The victim said Sen. Marzilli drove by her three times in a white vehicle and stared at her before parking his vehicle, walking toward her, looking her up and down, and saying, “Do you have any under garments under that?”

At approximately 3PM Sen. Marzilli allegedly accosted and attempted to sexually assault a woman sitting on a park bench outside of 16 Middle Street. According to the victim, the senator told her she looked familiar, sat very close to her on the bench, and said “Since I saw you, I’ve liked you. You are a very beautiful woman.” The victim said Sen. Marzilli attempted to grab her in a sexual manner, so she pulled away and screamed at him to stop. The victim then went into a nearby building after Sen. Marzilli continued to make sexually explicit comments.

According to authorities, Sen. Marzilli waited outside the building and the woman told him he could not come inside. Two male workers who were informed about the incident by the victim then told a police officer, who approached Sen. Marzilli and asked him his name. Sen. Marzilli told the officer his name was Martin Walsh, a state representative from Dorchester, and gave police a false date of birth and Medford address.

Sen. Marzilli ran from officers after back-up arrived and he was asked to wait by a police cruiser. After a brief foot chase through downtown Lowell, Sen. Marzilli was apprehended by police in a parking garage.

Sen. Marzilli pled not guilty during the arraignment following his arrest, and his lawyer maintains he is innocent.

The senator checked himself into McLean Hospital in Belmont several days after his arrest. An aide to the senator, Cindy Friedman, recently said Sen. Marzilli is suffering from bipolar disorder.

In a rare and unusual move, the state senate voted unanimously on Tuesday to launch an ethics investigation against Sen. Marzilli, according to a story published by the State House News Service. The results of the investigation will not be announced until after the criminal proceedings have been completed, which could take years.

Sen. Marzilli, a state representative for Arlington and Medford for nearly two decades before being elected to the State Senate in a special election last year, has dropped his bid for re-election to his senate seat in the fall.