Bouncer charged with raping Wheaton College student at Norton bar

By Alli Knothe, Globe Correspondent

A bouncer at the Sportsway Café in Norton was arraigned today in Attleboro District Court on charges that he raped a Wheaton College student while he was working at the bar early this month, Norton police said.

A Wheaton student called police Feb. 10 to report that she was sexually assaulted by an employee while at the bar with friends about a week earlier, police said.

Following an investigation, Norton police detectives charged Paul Panaikas, 38, of Taunton with rape and indecent assault and battery of a person over the age of 14.

Judge Daniel O’Shea today set Panaikas’s bail at $5,000, said Lisa Rowell, a spokeswoman for the Bristol district attorney’s office. Panaikas was ordered to have no contact with the victim and to stay away from the college.

O’Shea slated another hearing for March 21.