False correx rap severe blow to model ex-con
An ex-con’s exemplary postprison life was turned upside down by a Correction Department website snafu, thrusting him back into an old life that he’s long since abandoned.
Christopher Aniades, 62, a founding member of a Lower East Side church who distributes food to the needy, was picked up in August for violating his parole by exceeding a mandated curfew and was ordered to spend 90 days in jail.
Yet for some as yet unexplained reason, the Correction Department website indicated he’d been arrested for attempted rape.
“I tried to do everything that’s right, and this put me right back there,” Aniades told the Daily News. “Now I’m wrong again. I’m the Frankenstein monster again.”
In October 1981, Aniades was arrested for the rape and strangulation murder of Doreen Vitale, 19, in Ozone Park, Queens. The then-24-year-old Aniades was convicted a year later. He was paroled in 2012.
“If I could go back in time, I would punch that guy right in the face,” he told The News. “I can understand why a lot of people hate me for what I did back then,” he said. “But I’m not that guy anymore.”
When Aniades was in prison, he changed, earning several associate’s degrees, including one in psychology, and led classes that inmates are required to take while in lockup.
Once released, Aniades began distributing food to the less fortunate. He was also a founding member of the New Covenant Church on Ludlow St.
“I was doing everything I could to be a different type of person than the one that landed me in prison,” he said. “I was volunteering and helping and I felt good about that. Now I’m on the train three or four days a week bringing food to people in the Bronx and Brooklyn.”
That all changed when the Correction Department posted a nonexistent attempted rape charge against him that was reported by the New York Post, under a headline blaring: “Convicted Rapist Killer Strikes Again in NYC After Getting Out of Jail.”
Aniades said his own brother cut ties with him.
“He said he realized what had happened, but he really didn’t want to hear from me anymore,” Aniades said, tears welling up in his eyes. “What bothers me is that there are people who put their trust in me … even members of the Parole Board, and now everybody I ever knew thinks I’m up to no good.”
New Covenant Church Pastor Andy Woodard was barraged with calls and texts from worried congregants.
“Everyone kept asking me what’s behind this,” Woodard said. “I said ‘I don’t know.’ But I had to see it for myself. I went to Rikers and when I brought up the article, you should have seen the look on his face. He was shocked that this was on the website.”
Aniades plans to sue the city for the online screwup, which he says left him homeless, with just the clothes on his back. His lawyer David Engelhardt filed a notice of claim with the city comptroller’s office Friday.
“Mr. Aniades was never and has never been charged with attempted rape,” Engelhardt wrote in his notice of claim. “Further, Mr. Aniades has not been charged with a violent crime this century.
“The [Correction Department’s] website records were based upon either gross negligence or an intentional malicious act by personnel.”
Aniades was released from jail this month after fulfilling his 90-day sentence for the parole violation, and the department website was changed, indicating he’d been in custody on a probation violation, Engelhardt said. The NYPD confirmed Saturday Aniades isn’t facing any criminal charges.
The city attorney declined to comment. An email to the Post was not immediately returned. As of Sunday, the article about Aniades’ arrest was still on the Post’s website.
“This is a complex matter on every level, but what’s clear is Mr. Aniades was sucked back in time to relive an experience he’s desperately tried to change,” Engelhardt said. “I’m sure some will say, good, I’m glad that happened to him, but it won’t be the people that actually know Chris.”
Aniades is legally barred from speaking to the Vitale family, but he said he realizes there’s nothing he could do or say to make up for the loss of Doreen’s life. “I’m not sure there is anything I can say that will make them feel better. It would probably make them feel worse if they see my face,” he said. “I can’t even forgive myself for being the person I was back then.”