Former Loss Prevention Officer at a Rite Aid Found Guilty on Multiple Charges, Including Rape
PORTLAND, Ore. April 14, 2025— A former loss prevention officer at a Rite Aid who sexually assaulted a woman has been found guilty on multiple charges, including rape.
On Thursday, Daniel Luis Cassinelli was found guilty by a judge on charges of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sodomy and two counts of second-degree sexual abuse in connection with the incident on Jan. 21, 2015.
At the time, Cassinelli had been working as a loss prevention officer at a downtown Portland Rite Aid when he accused a woman, Maryann Stott, of shoplifting. He then took her into the store’s basement and raped her.
Stott said she was already going through a rough time in her life when all this happened, sharing she had issues with addiction.
“I did things in my addiction I’m not proud of, like shoplifting. I’m not going to try to hide it or deny it, because I knew it was wrong,” she said.
After the assault, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, Cassinelli walked Stott to the surveillance room, saying he had been watching her for a while, and told her not to tell anyone about the assault, adding that he would not report her to the police.
Stott got on a bus to Beaverton, where she contacted a transit officer to report the rape. Police later identified Daniel Cassinelli through surveillance footage and by speaking with store management. Stott was taken to a hospital, where she underwent a sexual assault forensic exam and filed a police report.
According to Rite Aid records, Cassinelli had previously detained Stott twice and filed reports for those incidents, but he did not document the 2015 encounter. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said Cassinelli violated store policy by being alone with a woman in the office and by failing to file a report.
The DA’s office also said that although a rape kit was completed at the time, a lack of advanced forensic analysis meant there was no “smoking gun” linking Cassinelli to the assault.
The district attorney’s office said Stott eventually separated from the case, and it went cold.
The investigation remained inactive until October 2021, when now-retired Portland police investigator Matthew Irvine reopened it through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, or SAKI, grant. The program funded the testing of previously untested rape kits, which ultimately led to an indictment and trial.
Additional funding also allowed law enforcement to contact victims whose cases had never been resolved.
“For a long time, I thought nothing was going to be brought up again,” Stott said. “And then emotionally, like I said before, I was coping in ways that weren’t healthy in my addiction, just so I didn’t feel anything.”
In 2022, Cassinelli was arrested.
“I feel a lot of emotions,” Stott told KGW in 2022, after Cassinelli was arrested. “I’m really overwhelmed, but at the same time, I can’t believe it’s happening.”
However, he was soon after released on bail, and was free until he was found guilty on April 11th.
In 2024, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said new, more sophisticated analysis was conducted on the rape kit, and partial DNA was found, suggesting involvement from Cassinelli.
Cassinelli faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 100 months in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
“It was embarrassing to have what happened to me described publicly, but in the end, he’s behind bars right now because of his own actions,” Stott said.
“Once they put him in handcuffs, that’s when I really was happy,” she recalled. “And then, when they were reading the verdict and I first heard ‘guilty,’ you can hear me—I let out a huge ‘yes’ and felt relief. I was like, ‘Thank you, God.’”
“Victims—no matter their background or life circumstances—deserve to be believed, and will be believed,” said Deputy District Attorney Quinn Zemel, who prosecuted the case. “As part of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, even old cases can still be brought forward. It’s never too late for justice.”
In a statement, the district attorney’s office thanked now-retired Portland police investigator Matthew Irvine, Detective Matthew Brown of the Portland Police Bureau, and victim advocate Alliston Miller for their work on the case.
If you or someone you know have experienced sexual assault and need support, help is available.
You can contact the Sexual Assault Resource Center, (503) 626-9100. They are located at 4900 Southwest Griffith Drive, Ste. 135, Beaverton, OR 97005.
The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or rainn.org. It is available 24/7.
