Articles Posted in Sex Crimes

Enrique Lopes of Quincy, Massachusetts has been charged with Indecent Assault and Battery. According to reports Lopes groped a woman at the UMass Boston T station in Dorchester last week. Another person said that Lopes engaged in similar conduct towards another woman however that woman left before police arrived. The case is pending in the Dorchester District Court. Bail was set at two thousand dollars cash.

Read Article:

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/cops_and_courts/x457996615/Man-charged-with-indecent-assault-and-battery

Dorchester Indecent Assault and Battery Defense Lawyer

The crime if Indecent Assault and Battery in Massachusetts is a felony punishable by up to five years in state prison. As a practical matter most of these cases are prosecuted in the District Court where the maximum punishment is two and one half years in the house of correction. For the most part charges against first time offenders are continued without a finding. This eliminates the risk of having to register as a Sex Offender through the Massachusetts Sexual Offender Registry Board. In cases like this one, assuming Lopes does not have a criminal record a Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer should be able to get this case continued without a finding. However, I would expect as a condition of this disposition the defendant would have to undergo some sort of counseling. Regardless, Lopes needs to hire an experienced lawyer.

Continue Reading

Robert Colpitts was convicted in 1987 of Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under the Age of Fourteen. At that time he was eighteen years old. Now, at the age of forty one Colpitts is obligated under the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Laws to register as a sex offender. Authorities claim that he did not. Consequently, he has been charged with Failing to Register as a Sex Offender. Bail was set in the amount of one thousand dollars in the Marlborough District Court. Inasmuch as this is not the first time this happened Colpitts is being charged with a Subsequent Offense. Court records indicate that he was convicted of this crime back in 2005.

Read Article:

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/police_and_fire/x905415595/Police-Sex-offender-fails-to-register-in-Marlborough

Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Laws

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 6 Section 178H requires anyone who has been convicted of certain Sex Crimes in Massachusetts to register as a sex offender. There is also a requirement that the offender verify registration at certain times and provide notice of any change of address. Failure to do so subjects an offender to six months in the house or correction and up to five years in state prison if convicted for a violation of this law. Second and subsequent offenders face a five year minimum state prison sentence. That crime must be prosecuted in the Superior Court. Here, if the prosecution does not break the case down to a first offense it must indict to the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn where Colpitts will be prosecuted. These laws are very unforgiving and require the services of an Experienced Massachusetts Sex Offense Lawyer.

Continue Reading

Robert Kincaid of Swampscott, Massachusetts has been arrested and charged With Rape of a Child. The Salem News reports that starting last summer the thirty eight year old Kincaid started giving a fourteen year old girl alcohol after which he would Rape her. This occurred at least twenty times over a nine month period, the last time being last month. Kincaid was also charged with twenty counts of Procuring Alcohol for a Minor. The acts are alleged to have occurred at Kincaid’s apartment. The girl reported the incident to the police last Thursday night. Kincaid’s apartment was searched pursuant to a Search Warrant yesterday. He was arrested shortly thereafter. The charges are now pending in the Lynn District Court. The case will ultimately be prosecuted in the Essex County Superior Court in Salem. There is no indication that any physical evidence has been secured by the police.

Read Article:

http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_092230810.html?keyword=secondarystory

The article does not indicate whether or not Kincaid has been charged with Rape of a Child With Force or Statutory Rape. Both charges are felonies and are punishable by up to life in prison. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 23 pertains to Statutory Rape. Massachusetts laws state that no one under the age of sixteen is capable of consenting. In this case it is suggested that Kincaid had sex with a fourteen year old. Even if the act is “consensual”, the victim’s “consent” is not a defense. On the other hand, Forcible Rape of a Child is a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 22A. There is an element of force that must be proved by the district attorney if Kincaid is indicted under this statute. The decision of what statute to charge under depends largely on the information that the young girl provides to the prosecution. Kincaid’s defenses will depend on the evidence that the prosecution produces. Many of these cases are prosecuted with nothing more than the testimony of the complainant. In other words there is an absence of physical evidence. These cases are easier to win from the perspective of a Massachusetts Rape Defense Lawyer.

Continue Reading

Sean Shanahan of Winthrop, Massachusetts has been charged with Enticing a Minor, Indecent Assault and Battery and Rape of a Child. The prosecution is alleging that over the past February vacation a fourteen year old girl was staying at his home visiting Shanahan’s daughter. Shanahan was seen going into his bedroom with the girl. On an earlier and undisclosed date the girl was at the defendant’s home watching a movie during which he supposedly rubbed her thigh underneath a blanket. The prosecution has alleged that he made incriminating statements to his daughter and that he asked his wife to get rid of his computer, suggesting that there was inculpatory material on that item. This case will be prosecuted in the Suffolk County Superior Court.

Read Article:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100310child_rape_charge_rocks_tsa_logan_employee_pats_down_air_travelers_at_scan_stations/srvc=home&position=2

Statutory Rape Defense Attorneys in Massachusetts

The crime of Rape of a Child in Massachusetts is defined by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 23. The law requires the district attorney to prove beyond a reasonable doubt three things. First, that the defendant engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim; second, that the victim was under the age of sixteen at the time of the crime and third that the sexual intercourse was unlawful. This third element requires the prosecutor to prove that the sexual intercourse occurred outside of a marital relationship. Given the charges in this case and the facts set out in the article it appears that the act was consensual. Shanahan supposedly asked his daughter how she would feel about him dating a girl her age. After confronting the victim after leaving Shanahan’s room the daughter was told by her friend that she would have to deal with things.

The prosecution will try to prove its case by putting the victim, the defendant’s daughter and his wife on the stand. It is unclear how much physical evidence exists in this case, if any however the testimony of the victim alone is often sufficient to secure a conviction. The daughter’s testimony will be corroborative of the victim’s and extremely damaging. The same holds for the wife’s testimony assuming she does not invoke the marital privilege and withhold her testimony.

Continue Reading

Paul Robinson of Rockland, Massachusetts was arrested last week after employees of a Dunkin’ Donuts reported that he had exposed himself to them several times since last October. Apparently the manager of the store had reported the activity days before the arrest but no one was able to locate the suspect. Later, Robinson was found near the store. He was questioned and subsequently identified by store employees through photographs as the person who had exposed himself. Robinson was arrested and faces several counts of Open and Gross Lewdness. The case will be prosecuted in the Hingham District Court.

Read Article:

Massachusetts Man Who Exposes Himself Several Times Charged In Hingham

Open and Gross Lewdness in Massachusetts

Open and Gross Lewdness in Massachusetts is a crime in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272 Section 16. The law states that “[a] man or woman, married or unmarried, who is guilty of open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in jail for not more than two years or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars.” This is a felony and a conviction could result in consequences before the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB). In order to convict someone for Open and Gross Lewdness the district attorney must prove that the accused intentionally exposed genitals, breasts, or buttocks, that he or she did so openly or with reckless disregard of public exposure in a manner so “as to produce alarm or shock”; and the action actually shocked one or more persons. Flashing in the manner described in this article can at times satisfy the elements of this offense.

Continue Reading

On December 1, 2009 I blogged about Manson Brown, the Massachusetts man who escaped from prison after learning about his new Rape Indictment. Well, Brown was apprehended on January 3, 2010 in Georgia and last Friday the 51 year old Mattapan man was arraigned for the 1996 Rape and Home Invasion case that triggered his escape. Brown, who was also charged with being a Habitual Offender was held without bail in the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn. According to reports, in September of 1996 Brown broke into the victim’s home through a window and raped her while she was sleeping next to her two year old son. Brown then allegedly stole money and jewelry from the victim’s home and threatened to kill her family if she called the police. She subsequently went to the hospital. A recent DNA match identified Brown as the suspect.

Read Article:

Massachusetts Prison Escapee Arraigned For Cambridge Rape

Rape in Massachusetts

As I have mentioned many times in the past Rape Cases in Massachusetts are very difficult to defend even when there is not physical evidence linking the defendant to the crime. Once that evidence does become available however the case becomes that much more difficult. Absent any relationship between the defendant and the victim that might be suggestive of consent the added component of a DNA match makes defending the case that much more difficult. People like Manson Brown need to find a Middlesex Superior Court Defense Lawyer with Experience Defending Rape Cases Involving DNA. These tests are fallible and to avoid the consequences of a Rape Conviction and a lengthy state prison sentence Brown is going to need a lawyer who can challenge the accuracy of this test.

Continue Reading