Nicholas Alahverdian (1987 – ) was an LDS church member in Rhode Island and Orem, Utah; allegedly sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman in Rhode Island in 2006; she told Floodlit in 2025 that she reported to Mormon officials, and that two missionaries overheard; Alahverdian was convicted in two rape trials in 2025.
"The guilt is heavy because [...] I may have been one of the first of his victims, if not the first. [...] He is a monster. It sickens me that not only did everyone turn a blind eye, but he went on to become a member at other LDS churches when the whole point of alerting the church was to excommunicate him and that hadn't been done."
— Abuse survivor, 2025

Nicholas Alahverdian, AKA Nicholas Rossi or Arthur Knight, was a Mormon church member in Rhode Island and in Orem, Utah. While he may have participated actively in the church at different times, multiple alleged victims of sexual abuse by Alahverdian said he feigned religious devotion in order to gain their trust. Floodlit is seeking more information in this case; in the interest of public safety and in an effort to help abuse survivors heal, we’ve decided to share facts about Alahverdian here.

Alahverdian reportedly met a woman at a Mormon singles event in Rhode Island and married her in 2010. They were married for about six months. Their marriage involved allegations of domestic violence, including a no-contest plea by Alahverdian to simple assault.

Thanks to your support, Floodlit was able to provide assistance in 2025 to an alleged victim of Alahverdian by helping her find and contact a person who could corroborate aspects of their account to investigators. She later told an online forum poster who mentioned Floodlit, “Thank you again for recommending floodlit! I have gotten a lot of great leads since I have reached out to them! So grateful!”

If you knew Alahverdian, or if you are or know an abuse survivor in this case, please contact us.

—

Nicholas Alahverdian: Alleged abuse timeline

  • Date unknown: Accused of abduction and sexual assault attempt in Massachusetts.
  • Approximately 2005 or 2006: Baptized in the Mormon church in Rhode Island.
  • February 2006: Allegedly sexually assaults a 19-year-old woman in Rhode Island, she later tells Floodlit, saying Alahverdian held her captive in his apartment for two or three days. She told Floodlit that she disclosed the abuse to Mormon church leaders in Providence or Warwick, and that two local LDS missionaries overheard the conversation. Floodlit is seeking more information on church officials’ response to the abuse allegations.
  • 2008: Convicted of two sexual assaults Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.
  • September 2008: Allegedly rapes an ex-girlfriend in Orem, Utah. Later arrested in December 2021 for the alleged rape.
  • 2009: Allegedly stalks ex-girlfriend in Rhode Island after returning to state and failing to register as a sex offender.
  • 2010-11: Four women in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, file complaints against him. One was his first wife.
  • 2015: Marries second wife in Ohio; she complains of abuse and they divorce after seven months.
  • 2017: Accused of fraud after allegedly taking out $200,000 in credit cards and loans under his foster parent’s name in Ohio. He allegedly rapes a woman in Essex, England, the same year.
  • February 2020: Allegedly attempts to fake his own death of lymphoma, with unnamed ‘widow’ claiming Alahverdian had been buried at sea. In July, DNA links him to alleged 2008 sex attack in Orem, Utah.
  • December 2021: Arrested at hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, while intubated with COVID on suspicion of Utah sex attack.
  • 2024: Alahverdian was extradited from Scotland to face charges of rape in Utah.
  • 2025: Alahverdian was convicted in two separate rape trials.

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Sources

  1. 'Extreme cruelty': Ohio woman describes 7-month marriage to Nick Alahverdian, The Providence Journal, February 1, 2022.
  2. US fugitive Nicholas Rossi who fled to Scotland sentenced for rape, BBC, October 20, 2025.

  • 1. 'Extreme cruelty': Ohio woman describes 7-month marriage to Nick Alahverdian

    • 20220201
    • News article
    • The Providence Journal

    [excerpt]

    He insisted she wear nice skirts. And always with pantyhose.

    He “would have a conniption if he saw a tear,” she says.

    “There was this image he was going for.”

    Her Ohio marriage to Nicholas Alahverdian, the convicted sex offender and Rhode Island con man who would come to fake his death in 2020, lasted seven months.

  • 2. US fugitive Nicholas Rossi who fled to Scotland sentenced for rape

    • 20251020
    • News article
    • BBC

    A US man who faked his death and fled to Scotland after being accused of rape has been jailed for at least five years.

    Nicholas Rossi, 38, of Rhode Island, was convicted in separate trials in August and September of raping two women in Utah in 2008.

    Appearing in court in Salt Lake City on Monday, Rossi was sentenced by a judge for the first conviction to a term ranging from five years to life in prison. He is due to be sentenced for the second conviction next month.

    Before sentencing, Judge Barry G Lawrence described Rossi as a "serial abuser of women" and said he was the "very definition of a flight risk".

    "He fled the country to avoid investigation. He took on an alias and, even in response to this case, refused to admit who he was," the judge said.

    An online obituary posted in February 2020 said Rossi, who was born Nicholas Alahverdian, had died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

    He then came to wider attention in December 2021 when he was arrested on the Covid ward of a Glasgow hospital. Staff recognised his mugshot and distinctive tattoos from an Interpol wanted notice.

    Rossi claimed that his name was Arthur Knight - an Irish-born orphan who had never been to the US.

    He made a series of bizarre court appearances in Scotland - in a wheelchair, wearing a three-piece suit and an oxygen mask, maintaining his claim of mistaken identity.

    He was extradited to the US in January 2024 and put on trial in Utah for two separate charges of rape.

    The saga from Glasgow to Salt Lake City was documented in the BBC's Strange But True Crime podcast.

    Utah has an indeterminate sentencing, meaning it is given in a range of years rather than a fixed number. The judge said it was up to the state's board of pardons and parole to determine how long he should be jailed.

    Shortly before sentencing, one victim said Rossi had left a "trail of fear, pain and destruction" behind him.

    "This is not a plea for vengeance. This is a plea for safety and accountability, for recognition of the damage that will never fully heal," she said.

    Rossi maintained his debunked claims of mistaken identity - which have been disproved by DNA and matching tattoos - during his court appearance on Monday.

    "I am not guilty of this," he told the court before being sentenced. "These women are lying, and in due course, we will lodge an appeal."

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Timeline

  • 1987
    Born

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