Viprino Previously Tried, Acquitted Of Rape

Records Also Show Police Denied License To Carry Application

HARWICH – The man who pleaded not guilty to rape, assault and firearms charges earlier this month was acquitted of a separate rape charge in 2004, according to court records.

Records also show that Barry D. Viprino, 42, was denied a license to carry a firearm in 2016 after he was deemed “unsuitable” for one by Harwich police.

Viprino was arraigned Nov. 9 in Orleans District Court on 11 counts of rape as well as an additional count each of indecent assault and batter of person 14 or over and possession of a large capacity firearm.

The charges stem from two cases involving three women who claim that Viprino sexually assaulted them over the summer. All three of the alleged victims were under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged assaults, according to police and court records.

Viprino is being held on $200,000 bail. If released, Viprino must wear GPS monitoring, surrender his passport and firearms, not to leave the state and to have no contact with and stay at least 200 feet away from the alleged victims.

The rape charges are not the first to be lodged against Viprino. In 2002, he was charged with raping a woman who he at the time was dating. Viprino was tried and acquitted of the charge in March 2004, according to court records.

But a restraining order that was filed against Viprino in connection with the rape allegation remained in effect until 2017. It was in effect at the time of his application for the license to carry, and Harwich Police Chief David Guillmette denied the application on those grounds.

While the restraining order expired in February 2017, police later told Viprino that he was “unsuitable” for a license, and that his application would not be reconsidered, court records show.

Viprino brought suit against Guillmette on the matter in Orleans District Court. In the complaint, it was argued that Viprino, who operated a farm in Harwich, needed to carry a firearm to protect his “livestock from predators,” and to protect himself and his family against potentially dangerous animals in his own herd. It was also argued that Viprino needed a firearm for self defense because he often travels with large sums of money as part of his work.

An evidentiary hearing was held on the matter in Orleans District Court in September 2017, at which Viprino testified. Later that month, Judge Thomas Kirkman ruled in favor of Guillmette. Despite Viprino’s acquittal, Kirkman argued that “legal innocence is not equal to factual innocence.”

“And the mere fact that the restraining order was vacated does not preclude the respondent from considering the basis of its original issuance,” he wrote.

Viprino then took his case to Barnstable Superior Court, where he filed suit against Guillmette and the “Justices of the Orleans Division of the District Court.” In the suit, Viprino claimed that Guillmette denied his license to carry application “without reasonable ground,” but the suit was dismissed in April 2018.

Viprino is alleged to have shown a gun to one of the victims in August before sexually assaulting them. He allegedly lifted his shirt to show the gun before directing the victim to lie down on a couch in a detached garage at his home.

On Sept. 28, Harwich police executed a search warrant in the garage in connection to the most recent charges. According to a report detailing the warrant’s execution, police were specifically looking for photographs and unlawful high-capacity firearms, including a “Glock 17.”

The report said police uncovered a total of 12 high-capacity magazines, including five Glock 9 mm magazines and seven .40 caliber magazines.

“It should be noted that all magazines were found to be capable of holding more than [10] rounds,” according to a report detailing the execution of the warrant.

Police also found a “plastic case with a Sig Sauer P320 owner’s book inside,” according to the report. No guns were found during the search.

The report said that the seized magazines were “large capacity feeding devices” that required the owner to have a license to carry. Viprino had a firearms identification card but not a license, according to the report.

Reached by phone this week, Guillmette said he is not allowed by law to provide information about past or current firearms licensing applications.

Viprino is due back in court for a probable cause hearing on Dec. 14.

Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com