Branford Resident Arrested In Eastern Connecticut Teen Sex Assault Investigation

CHAPLIN, CT — A Branford resident has been charged in connection with a sexual assault that occurred in the spring of 2024 in Chaplin, state police said Friday.

Rio Vulinovic, 20, whose listed address is in Branford, was served a warrant on Nov. 7 charging him with first-, second- and fourth-degree sexual assault (with a threat of force), third-degree strangulation and risk of injury to a minor. He posted a $175,000 bond and has a court date of Jan 6, judicial system records show.

The victim in the case was 13 at the time, state police said.

According to a warrant, state police began investigating the case In April 2024 when the girl said she was sexually assaulted "sometime in February or March" by a male she met on the "Snapchat" social media application.

The girl told an acquaintance that she left her house at 11 p.m. without permission and met up with a man she met on Snapchat named "Rio," according to a warrant. The man said he was 15 years old living in East Hartford, but the girl deduced he was older when she saw him, according to a warrant. An arrest report cites his address as being in Branford.

According to a warrant, "Rio" picked up the girl at her residence and drove her down a country road in Chaplin and eventually to a dirt parking lot.

He then forcibly "raped" the girl, and then made her walk home, according to testimony in a warrant.

The girl provided a state trooper with a photograph of "Rio" she took herself.