Irish firefighter pleads not guilty in Boston rape case

In the courtroom, Assistant District Attorney Erin Murphy claimed that Crosbie raped a “strange woman” at the Omni Parker House Hotel in downtown Boston.

On March 14, the 28-year-old woman went to dinner with coworkers and met a man and his colleagues from the Dublin Fire Department who were coming to Boston to participate in the parade, Murphy said.

Crosbie and another member of the brigade shared a hotel room at the Omni Parker House, Murphy said.

Video shows the woman leaving a restaurant with Crosbie’s co-worker around 11:30 p.m. and returning to the hotel room, where she fell asleep in a separate bed, Murphy said. Crosbie left the hotel at 11:55 p.m., according to hotel surveillance video, and put his key card back in the room at 1:55 a.m., Murphy said.

“The victim was asleep when the defendant entered the room,” Murphy said. “She was unaware of his presence until she woke up and saw him in the act of raping her.”

“She told him to stop and asked him what he was doing,” Murphy continued. “The defendant continued and did not stop. He made comments to the effect that he knew she wanted him to do this and that his friend was pathetic for falling asleep.”

When the woman stood up and tried to leave, Crosbie followed her across the room, tried to touch her and told her “she wanted this,” Murphy said.

The woman left the room at 2:15 a.m., 20 minutes after Crosbie entered the room, Murphy said. She sent a message to a friend saying she had been attacked and then went to a hospital, Murphy said, where she spoke with police.

Evidence shows Crosbie was the only person to enter the room at that time, Murphy said. When questioned by police on March 16, Crosbie admitted to entering the room at that time but denied having any contact with the woman, she said.

Crosbie told police he was only in the room for one or two minutes before the woman packed up her things and left the room, Murphy said.

Crosbie was scheduled to leave the United States on March 19 after the parade. But after speaking with police on March 15, Crosbie went to Logan International Airport to board a 10:10 p.m. flight, Murphy said. He eventually boarded a 7 p.m. flight, but was escorted off the plane and arrested, she said.

“After learning that the police investigation was focused on him, he packed his things, left the country and went back to Ireland,” Murphy said.

Crosbie’s attorney, Daniel Reilly, requested that bail be set at $5,000.

“For someone who has less than $1,000 and has been unemployed since his arrest, he is certainly not in a position to post $100,000 bail,” Reilly said outside the courtroom. “We believe that this is contrary to case law and constitutional principles.”

When Crosbie boarded the plane on March 16, police told him he was a “free man” and no warrant had been issued for his arrest, Reilly said.

“In a foreign country, you don’t know the laws, you don’t have access to a lawyer. When someone comes at you and accuses you but doesn’t give you any further advice…” Reilly said. “He was scared and wanted to go home. He wasn’t running from anything.”

Reilly said his client denies the allegations and insists nothing wrong happened.

“He’s glad the case is moving forward because being held for 80 days on what he believes is a completely false charge is unbearable,” Reilly said. “He just wants to go home to his wife and daughters.”

You can reach Ava Berger at [email protected]. Follow her @Ava_Berger_Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @jeremycfox.