Alahverdian: DCYF Critic, Faked Death, Found in Scotland, Facing Extradition to Utah on Rape Charges
Friday, January 14, 2022
In 2011, Nicholas Alahverdian burst onto the scene, alleging he and other children were the victims of abuse at the hands of the state of Rhode Island.
In 2020, it was announced that he was dead -- complete with obituary and online memorial.
Now, the 34-year-old has been captured by police in Scotland and is facing extradition for rape charges back in the United States.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHis 2020 obituary read, “At the bedside were Mrs. Alahverdian, their two children, and extended family. His last words were 'fear not and run toward the bliss of the sun.' At the time of his passing, the room was filled with the sounds of the end credits for the 1997 film 'Contact' by composer Alan Silvestri, a film and score which held special meaning for Mr. Alahverdian.”
It further read, “Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza remembered Mr. Alahverdian as 'a beloved community leader whose selflessness and lifelong contributions to the residents of the State of Rhode Island have earned him the unwavering admiration and respect of many.'"
“WPRO News, the first news organization to announce the death of Mr. Alahverdian, was a base for him over the years as he told Rhode Islanders of the devastation suffered by children in care on The Buddy Cianci Show, The Dan Yorke Show, and on Steve Klamkin and the Saturday Morning News. The family express gratitude to these journalists, as well as to Bob Kerr, Walt Buteau, Parker Gavigan, and Dan McGowan who all became close confidantes in Mr. Alahverdian’s two-decade war on DCYF to spark its overhaul and reform,” added the obit.
Almost everything was a lie.
Arrest in Scotland
In December, the fabrications unraveled when he was arrested in Glasgow, Scotland.
In fact, Nicholas Alahverdian was also known as Nicholas Rossi and was wanted for rape charges. He is facing one count of rape in the first degree in Utah County, Utah.
In Scotland, he was living under the name of Arthur Knight.
The Glasgow Evening Times reports, “The Utah County Attorney’s office said that DNA evidence recorded from a previous arrest had linked Alahverdian with an alleged sexual assault in the state from 2018.
He was arrested by Police Scotland officers at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, on Wednesday, December 13."
"A spokesperson for the Utah County Attorney's office said: 'Investigators also learned that Nicholas Rossi had fled the country to avoid prosecution in Ohio and attempted to lead investigators and state legislators in other states to believe that he was deceased,'” writes the Glasgow Times.
The New York Times reports, "He was convicted in 2008 of sexual imposition and public indecency under that name. Those charges stemmed from an encounter between Mr. Alahverdian and another Sinclair Community College student in Dayton, Ohio, who told a campus police officer that Mr. Alahverdian had groped her and masturbated in front of her in a stairwell. The conviction, which Mr. Alahverdian unsuccessfully appealed, required him to register as a sex offender."
Self Claimed DCYF Reformer
GoLocal reported in 2011
The out-of-state, for-profit homes that DCYF uses are being accused of abuse and neglect by one of their former residents.
That resident, Nicholas Alahverdian, leveled the accusations at the Department of Children Youth and Families at a press conference he held at the Statehouse yesterday [March 1, 2011].
SEE HIS 2011 PRESS CONFERENCE HERE
“DCYF has displayed over the past three decades that the management is fundamentally flawed, child protection is not taken seriously, group homes and similar facilities are not reviewed as often as they are lawfully required, and they recklessly send youth to facilities that are dangerous and often irrelevant to the youth’s treatment needs,” Alahverdian wrote in a letter to House Speaker Gordon Fox that he distributed prior to the conference.
“DCYF has no documented evidence of substantiated abuse of Mr. [Alahverdian] in a residential setting. … DCYF's data does not suggest that any pattern of widespread abuse exists in the residential system in RI.”
His obituary picked up the theme of his claims against DCYF. "Mr. Alahverdian was a painter, author, amateur ornithologist, political scientist, sociologist, accomplished orator, and child welfare reform advocate."
"He spent 20 years in the House of Representatives and the Senate, where he not only served as a state employee at the age of 14, but also provided lawmakers with insight into the abusive DCYF practices which have sparked calls for reform from all four corners of Rhode Island as he was abused in DCYF care simultaneous to his employment with the government. Alahverdian left his employment to became the youngest lobbyist in Rhode Island history as he fought for DCYF reform and was then exiled to Nebraska and Florida where he was silenced until his 18th birthday," according to his obituary.
The obit added, "Surviving what Providence Journal columnist Bob Kerr called a Dickensian existence in Rhode Island and enduring war-like torture in Nebraska and Florida was a triumph of sheer will. He overcame severe beatings and rapes and the facilities were ultimately closed after Alahverdian shined a light on the abuse. Alahverdian continued his crusade against DCYF abuses until his death, and with merely two weeks prior to his untimely passing, a bill creating a DCYF oversight commission was introduced in his honor by Rep. Ray Hull as the stories about DCYF horrors continue to be reported and published."