A Connecticut business owner allegedly pretended to be running various medical studies in order to recruit women he would later sexually assault and record.
Brian Casella, 35, turned himself in to police to face a charge of fourth-degree sexual assault, state police said, though authorities fear he may have more victims. Court documents say police found more than 1,000 videos and photos of multiple victims during a search of Casella’s truck.
The fake medical study scheme came to light after a woman who worked for Casella’s event planning company went to police and alleged he had assaulted her during one of several “tests” he conducted on her personally, supposedly as part of a paid medical study concerning her digestive system.
He “told the victim that she could not tell her co-workers because they would be jealous of the extra money she was making. Casella went on to also tell the victim that she could not tell Casella’s wife about the sessions,” the arrest affidavit notes.
Bizarrely, Casella allegedly conducted these “sessions” in the office area of his company, Vivid Events, which provides DJ services and other necessities for events like weddings. He allegedly paid the women with white envelopes filled with cash, with the only identified victim saying the amount usually ranged from $100 to $500.
Things reportedly came to a head after Casella started making more and more outrageous requests, including allegedly asking the victim to take sleeping pills and insisting he had to zip-tie her, while he also made a point to place tape over the business’ security cameras.
Police later found an ultrasound machine, scrubs, electrical stimulation machines, and stethoscopes during a search of Vivid Events, authorities said.
“Casella stated that ever since he was young he’s had a fetish, which he’s never really addressed, and it has been with him his whole life. Casella stated that throughout his life he’s found ways to satisfy his fetish, and has compensated people with money to perform examinations on them,” the affidavit says.
Asked how many victims he had, the document says, “he replied a lot, that he had been doing it for years.”
Mark Sherman, Casella’s defense attorney, told local media the case was “complicated” but that Casella was “willing to work through the court process in a manner fair and sensitive to all the parties involved.”
Casella is due to appear in court on Nov. 29.