Yesterday, outrage erupted in Natick District Court as a Boston homeless shelter resident stood with his attorney as his victims demanded his incarceration. The dramatic scene unfolded when the mother of a sexually abused child chastised the judge for allowing a sexual offender to remain free despite alleged parole violations.
John C., a level 3 sex offender (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) has already been convicted of assaulting Rachel F.’s (hereinafter, the “Mother”) 9-year-old daughter. Upon his release from serving a part of his sentence, he was ordered by the court to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet.
He has not done so.
The Defendant was given several months to comply with a court order to find new housing or find a way to charge the GPS device. He has been living at a local shelter For Homeless Veterans since being released from prison in December.
Without the GPS device.
Now, he was given more time to correct the violation.
“He’s a violator!” screamed the Mother in court. “He violated his parole, and that’s all you can say is sorry? For me?”
After leaving the courtroom, she continued, “It’s not fair. I get a sorry. He should have got two-and-a-half years in jail from the first time back in February when he violated his parole.”
Annette P., (hereinafter, “Another Victim”) said that she’s shocked to see another sexual offender allowed to violate a parole order. Her daughter and granddaughter were murdered by a level 3 offender who had weeks before violated his own parole terms. She was in court to lend support to the Mother.
“I see probation as a problem in this state,” said Another Victim. “I have written a letter to the commissioner and he has never, ever responded to me — even for my own case — so we are angry.”
“If they don’t bring them back after violations, what happens if they go and rape another child? If they go and murder another child? What happens then?” asked Another Victim.
The 9-year-old girl assaulted by the Defendant told reporters that she is terrified the sexual offender is living freely without the bracelet. “He may come over here and do it again to me,” the girl said at her home.
Laurence D. Fitzmaurice, CEO of the shelter, said that the organization is not a policing effort and cannot be responsible for tracking or reporting sex offenders living there.
“We are not his guardian in any way,” said Fitzmaurice.
Yesterday, the Defendant was ordered to charge the bracelet daily at a location in downtown Boston and to actively look for employment.
Well, it only took 89 days for the Defendant to comply last time…maybe he has gotten the message now.
Attorney Sam’s Take::
To say the least, the Defendant is a very lucky man when it comes to criminal justice.
First of all, it would appear that he was not indicted for his Massachusetts sex offense which, in all likelihood, was a felony. Next, he did not even get the maximum possible sentence, 2 ½ years, that the district court can give. Finally, despite violating parole did not land him back in jail, particularly when there was media interest in the story.
Violating parole is pretty much the same as violating Massachusetts probation. The difference is that it takes place after serving part of the sentence as opposed to merely instead of jail time. The rules are the same, however. You must do as ordered by the court. You must do what the parole officer tells you. You cannot be accused of re-offending.
In the instant case, it would seem that the Defendant is batting one third. There is no evidence that he has re-offended, but he has ignored the court order as well as, I would imagine, his parole officer’s admonitions to obey the court order.
Many judges would have simply locked him back up at this point, especially given the media attention. This judge, however, elected not to bow down to such public pressure which has to be respected, despite whether or not you agree with his decision.
Of course, let’s see what happens now and if the Defendant indeed obeys the court’s final warning.
The full articles of this story can be found at http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/19002233/detail.html, http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/18978637/detail.html and http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/18962057/detail.html