Articles Posted in Sex Crimes

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Christopher Rossi was arrested this past weekend. He has been charged with Indecent Assault and Battery, Child Enticement and Rape. Yesterday he was arraigned in the Framingham District Court and held on twenty five thousand dollars cash bail. The article reporting this store provided little in the way of detail noting primarily that Rossi admitted to having committed the alleged crimes, even going so far as to flag down the police who responded to the call. It is alleged that the acts occurred over a three year period. An indictment to the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn is all but certain given the nature of these charges.

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http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/police_and_fire/x1760689900/Ashland-man-admits-to-sexually-assaulting-girl

As a Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer I can tell you that no crime is more difficult to defend than allegations of sexual assault involving children. The repugnant nature of these crimes makes every aspect of the defense difficult. Jury selection is extremely difficult. It is often quicker to impanel juries in murder cases than in Massachusetts Child Rape Cases. Prospective jurors in criminal cases in Massachusetts are immediately informed of the allegations against the defendant. Judges ask a myriad of questions concerning the criminal process and they typically conclude by asking the jurors if there is anything about the nature of the allegations that would prevent them from sitting impartially. Right away hands get raised and one by one the jurors are brought to the side bar where they voice their discomfort with the subject matter. Many of them make clear that they cannot sit on such a case and be fair and impartial. The good news is that these people will not be sitting on the case. Massachusetts judges usually do a great job helping weed these people out to make room for twelve impartial people to judge the facts. Even though these cases are hard to defend I usually find that the juries I have in child sexual assault trials are the most well screened and attentive. This reminds me that no matter how severe the charges a good defense can result in success.

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Acting on a tip police officers from Beverly, Massachusetts started investigating whether a local woman was providing Sex For a Fee. The woman ran an ad in backpage.com. The ad suggested certain services were available for certain prices. An undercover detective posing as a customer responded to the ad. He met with the woman who offered him her services. Backup officers heard the conversation via a transmitter. They entered the home and made an arrest. It turns out that a Peabody, Massachusetts police officer recognized a picture of the woman as someone who was warned by his department to stop posting such advertisements. Heeding the warning the woman moved from Peabody to Beverly. Officers from Danvers and Ipswich were involved in the investigation. At the time of the arrest heroin was found in the woman’s apartment however no heroin charges were filed.

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http://www.salemnews.com/local/x333452032/After-warning-woman-facing-prostitution-charge

Massachusetts Prostitution Laws

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Prostitution laws vary from state to state. Each state authorizes a jail sentence for first offense convictions for prostitution. Similarly, every state permits incarceration for people who are customers. The Massachusetts laws make it a crime to ask for, receive or pay for sex. If convicted in Massachusetts there is a possibility of a one year jail sentence. Nevada is the only state that currently permits prostitution is some form. Each county in Nevada sets its own laws relative to prostitution. In 2009 Rhode Island repealed a law that permitted prostitution.

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John Coppinger is a level three Sex Offender living in southeastern Massachusetts. Two days ago he walked into a Target store in Kingston around 9:30 in the evening. According to a report in the Quincy Patriot Ledger Coppinger asked a store employee if it was okay for him to wear shorts in the store. He then took off his pants and was wearing “revealing skin-tight underpants” and walked around the store, stopping at one point in the woman’s bathroom. Store security personnel escorted him out of the store to the parking lot where he was arrested by local police. Coppinger is being charged with Open and Gross Lewdness and Accosting and Annoying a Person of the Opposite Sex. The charges are pending in the Plymouth District Court. Coppinger has been convicted of Open and Gross Lewdness eleven times in the past.

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http://www.patriotledger.com/news/cops_and_courts/x1076645165/Repeat-sex-offender-arrested-in-Kingston-sans-pants

Massachusetts Open and Gross Lewdness Defense Lawyer

Acts like this are commonly referred to as exhibitionism or flashing. In general terms this occurs when someone exposes his or her private parts in a public place. This act is performed to attract the attention of others or for sexual purposes. When it is intended to cause shock or alarm the act becomes a criminal offense in Massachusetts. Some people have a psychological condition that causes them to behave in this manner. The condition is called apodysophilia. There are no conclusive scientific theories as to what causes this behavior. Treatment for the disorder typically consists of psychotherapy and/or medications that effect hormones.

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Two days ago Donald Slason of Dedham, Massachusetts was arrested. He has been charged with Possession of Child Pornography and Transportation of Child Pornography in the Massachusetts Federal District Court. No details other than the United States Attorney’s press release were provided.

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http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/News/National_News/MASSACHUSETTS_MAN_INDICTED_ON_CHILD_PORNOGRAPHY_CHARGES/42718

Massachusetts Federal Child Pornography Defense Lawyer

18 U.S.C. §2252 and 18 U.S.C. §2252A are the primary Federal Child Pornography Statutes. Federal law takes effect when the images are transported across state lines or when the image was created with materials that were transported across state lines. People sending this material to someone in the same state might still be subject to this law if the server for the email is in another state. Mailing Child Pornography triggers the viability of this statute. It is also illegal to download Child Pornography from internet websites. Anyone convicted for transporting or distributing child pornography is subject to a five year mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years. The federal statute has certain affirmative defenses built in to it. This however is not an exhaustive list of the potential defenses that can be set forth during the trial of these charges. Many downloads come in bulk transfers made unintentionally. This can occur through emails or file share programs. People innocently searching for certain information can inadvertently access and download child porn. For instance, the website whitehouse.com used to be a website containing adult content. People who searched for this site thinking they were looking up facts about our presidents’ home were innocently surprised to find out that they were looking at something other than the White House. It is critical that anyone charged with this crime immediately contact an Experienced Child Pornography Defense Lawyer.

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Brian Addeo Was convicted in April of 2010 for a variety of Sex Crimes in Massachusetts. According to reports, Addeo pleaded guilty to Unnatural Rape of a Child, Rape of a Child, Indecent Assault and Battery, Kidnapping and Aggravated Rape in the Worcester Superior Court. Addeo, who had already served five years at the time of the plea was sentenced to six years in jail. Once released from custody he was placed on lifetime parole and ordered to wear a GPS device. On March 11, 2011 Addeo removed the GPS monitor and fled Massachusetts for Maine. Now he will likely face a parole violation that could result in a life jail sentence.

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http://www.milforddailynews.com/highlight/x1840139915/Rapist-suspected-of-taking-off-monitor-still-held-in-Maine

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Lifetime Parole in Massachusetts

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 275 Section 18 sets out the law for Lifetime Community Parole in Massachusetts. In a nutshell, the law states that anyone convicted of certain designated Sex Offenses in Massachusetts may be subject to community parole supervision for life. The law affords the defendant the right to a hearing. The hearing can be requested by the district attorney after conviction and before sentencing. The law also permits the defendant in certain circumstances to request a hearing, again after conviction and before sentencing. The standard for imposing lifetime community parole is proof by clear and convincing evidence. This law was tempered in part in 2005 after the Supreme Judicial Court’s holding in Commonwealth v. Pagan. There, the Court held that this law was unconstitutional as applied to first time offenders. The Court went further to state that any second and subsequent offenses must be charged as such before lifetime community parole can be imposed.

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Thomas Donahue of Ayer, Massachusetts is a level three sex offender. He now stands accused of making videos of naked boys on the internet. Agents went to arrest him at his home the other day unsuccessfully. It is believed that Donahue is now on the run. Donahue has been under investigation since he sent Child Pornography to an undercover officer in Canada back in October of 2008. Suspicions were corroborated when a Colorado man was found with Child Porn on his computer. The man cooperated with Federal Agents and Donahue was caught sharing files with this man’s computer. According to reports Donahue convinced boys between the ages of ten and sixteen to take off their clothes and perform sex acts while being filmed with a webcam. Eventually Donahue’s computer was seized. On it authorities found thousands of images and videos the majority of which contained Child Pornography. Donahue has a prior Sex Crimes conviction.

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http://www.nashobapublishing.com/ayer_news/ci_17591654#

All states have Child Pornography statutes as does the Federal Government. One of the most encompassing federal statutes dealing with this crime is 18 USC § 2251. As applicable to this case the statute make it a crime for anyone to use a child for visual depiction in sexually explicit conduct. A conviction for a violation of this law subjects the accused to up to thirty years in prison. For someone with a prior conviction such as Donahue it is likely that if convicted his sentence will be extremely high.

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Donald Wong, a Saugus State Representative is a co-sponsor to legistlation designed to punish people convicted of multiple Sex Offenses to life in prison. This bill provides that anyone who is convited of three sex offenses by punished with a life sentence. If passed this law would not permit parole or any reduction in sentences. Under this bill there is no distinction among sex offenses. Wong has stated that one sex offense is as bad as another. Apparently this bill has the support of twenty nine other legislators.

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Saugus Sex Crimes Defense Lawyer

The term “Sex Offense” in Massachusetts contemplates many different types of crimes. The range and severity of crimes that fall under this title is dramatic. It includes Indecent Assault and Battery, Rape, Statutory Rape, Drugging A Person For Sexual Intercourse and more. It also contemplates crimes such Living Off the Earnings of a Prostitute, Enticing a Person for Prostitution or Sexual Intercourse. Child Pornography, Unnatural Acts with a Child and Exhibiting a Child in a State of Nudity are includeda s well. Similarly, sex crmies include Open and Gross Lewdness and Lascivious Behavior. All of these crimes are distinct in nature. They are not prosecuted consistently. Some are handled in the district court, others in the superior courts. Prosecutions for these crimes vary from county to county in terms of sentence recommendations. Each case rests on its unique set of facts. Some of these cases are resolved by probation, others involve jail time. A conviction for the crime of open and gross lewdness would be the same as a conviction for aggravated rape under this propsed law. If the law passes, expect constitutional challenges to follow and litigation on these cases to increase.

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Samuel Harper was arrested in Long Branch, New Jersey yesterday on warrants for Failing to Register as a Sex Offender in Massachusetts. Today the forty six year old will be arraigned in the Lawrence District Court. According to reports in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune police raided three different locations while searching for Harper. The charges stem from a 1993 case wherein Harper was convicted for Rape of a Child with Force and Assault With the Intent to Commit Rape. Harper is wanted in both Essex County and Suffolk County.

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http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1948342507/Fugitive-sex-offender-to-be-arraigned-today-in-Lawrence#

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Massachusetts Sex Crimes Defense Lawyer

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 6 Section 178(H) states that any sex offender who is required to register and who fails to do so is guilty of a felony. The punishment can be as much as five years in state prison. A second offense of failure to register as a sex offender carries a mandatory minimum five year state prison sentence. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 6 Section 178(E) details the obligations of someone convicted of sex crime. These obligations include the duty to provide the Sex Offender Registry Board with addresses, changes of address, an intent to move outside of Massachusetts and also include affirmative duties on people who are moving into Massachusetts and were convicted of a sex offense in another jurisdiction.

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Leandra Patterson of Framingham was arrested last Wednesday night after police, acting in an undercover capacity learned that she had been offering Sex For a Fee. According to a report in the Metrowest Daily News, a Framingham Police Detective called a number listed on an internet website, backpage.com. The ad described a woman who assured satisfaction. The woman agreed to meet the undercover officer at an apartment on Worcester Road (Route 9). The officer arrived and a price of one hundred sixty dollars was requested for all inclusive sex acts. Patterson was then arrested. She had a loaded firearm in her bedroom and no FID card. The next night officers re-appeared at her home after another ad appeared on the same website. Patterson has been charged with Sexual Conduct For a Fee and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition.

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http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/police_and_fire/x938335995/Framingham-woman-faces-prostitution-charges

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Framingham, Massachusetts Prostitution Defense Lawyer

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272 Section 53A states that anyone who engages or offers to engage in a sexual act for a fee shall be punished by up to one year in jail. This crime is a misdemeanor meaning that there is no state prison sentence authorized. This crime is simple to prove and simple to defend. Either a jury believes that the accused had the intent to engage in the act or in fact did engage in the act, or it does not believe this to be the case. There is very little case law on the subject.

So how are these cases usually resolved? If Patterson does not have a criminal record an Experienced Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer should be able to have the charges continued without a finding. This would mean that if Patterson successfully completed a period of probation the case would be dismissed.

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Michael Provencher was arraigned Tuesday in the Marlborough District Court on charges of Child Enticement. According to the Metrowest Daily News, Provencher girl under the age of sixteen received a text of a sexual nature from Provencher. It is alleged that the girl knows Provencher. Bail was set in the amount of two thousand dollars, a sum that Provencher posted.

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http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/police_and_fire/x198685033/Marlborough-man-charged-with-sending-sexual-text-to-minor

Massachusetts Child Enticement Defense Lawyer

Child Enticement in Massachusetts is a felony. It is punishable by up to five years in state prison. The facts of this case suggest that Provencher will be prosecuted in the district court where the maximum he faces is two and one half years in the House of Correction. The law punishes anyone who the district attorney can prove beyond a reasonable doubt entices someone under the age of sixteen with the intent to violate one of several statutes; i.e. Indecent Assault and Battery, Rape, Statutory Rape, Prostitution, Child Pornography and more. Factual impossibility is not a defense to this crime meaning that you can be convicted in a sting operation using undercover decoys who are not under the age of sixteen. The law pertaining to this crime is broad and unforgiving. These cases are often difficult to defend and require the expertise of an Experienced Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer. Never wait. Hire a lawyer now and start your defense.

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