PORTLAND, Ore. — A former loss prevention officer at a Portland-area Rite Aid store has been arraigned on charges of rape and sex abuse stemming from a 2015 incident involving a shopper, and police believe there may be additional victims.
Daniel Luis Cassinelli, 43, was arraigned Wednesday on four counts of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree sodomy and two counts of first-degree sex abuse, according to a news release from the office of Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt.
Cassinelli allegedly accused a female customer in the store of shoplifting and escorted her to a room in the downstairs of the Rite Aid, where the DA's office said he threatened to report the alleged shoplifting to police and used his position of authority as a loss prevention officer to make the female customer feel that she was unable to leave. Then he subjected her to multiple non-consensual sex acts, according to the news release.
He subsequently escorted her back to the main store upstairs and let her leave the premises.
Interviews with Cassinelli have led prosecutors and Portland police investigators to believe that he may have committed similar crimes with other victims, Schmidt's office said. Cassinelli worked as a loss prevention officer at multiple stores in the Portland area during and after 2015.
The police and DA's office are asking anyone with information about Cassinelli to contact Portland Police Bureau Detective Brendan McGuire at 503-823-0869 or Brendan.McGuire@police.portlandoregon.gov.
