Niece accuses Waltham man of rape

The Boston Globe reports that a Burlington woman has filed a civil lawsuit against her uncle, alleging that he raped her repeatedly as a child and subjected her to sexual abuse from 10 other men, before her family coerced her into signing an agreement absolving him from responsibility.

Rosanne Sliney, 48, filed a civil complaint in Middlesex Superior Court accusing Domenic A. Previte Jr., 70, of Waltham, of abuse and stating that he confessed to it years later in a signed letter to his niece. The Globe (and this blog) does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse but the Globe used Sliney’s name because she has chosen to go public with her allegations and she included her own name in the complaint.

“You were like a flower in springtime,” Previte wrote in the letter, according to a copy included in Sliney’s complaint. “I admired and respected you and loved you as my own daughter. . . . Somehow things got twisted. . . . I had confused my love for you with sex.”

The abuse at the hands of Previte occurred at locations including his home in Waltham, his car wash business in Cambridge, and a movie theater in Woburn, the complaint states.

Sliney contends the abuse began when she was 5 and lasted until she was about 14. Her family pressured her to sign an agreement in 1991 releasing Previte from any responsibility in exchange for a payment from him of $26,500, according to the complaint.

She alleges in the complaint that she did not understand the nature of the agreement that she signed in her late 20s, because of her damaged mental state after the abuse.

Though Sliney was told that Previte would take care of her for the rest of her life, the complaint states, her uncle has refused to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills related to mental health problems stemming from the abuse.

Sliney also asserts that she has begun during the last year to recall Previte forcing her to engage in sex acts with 10 other men, who are listed as codefendants in the lawsuit, but who are not identified by name.

The state corporations database lists Previte as the president of Previte Real Estate and Investments Inc. in Waltham, a business specializing in car wash purchases and sales.

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