Albrizio Gets Seven Years for
Torturing Children; DSS Fails Again

By Nev Moore
December 2000

Steven Albrizio, who was featured in Massachusetts News when DSS was finding adoptive parents for the three children that he had tortured, was found guilty last month of assault and battery against the children and sentenced to seven-and-one-half years in prison.

The crimes took place in 1996, but DSS never notified the police about the torture. It was only after the mother discovered the abuse in DSS files and reported it to the District Attorney that the matter was investigated by the state police and charges were brought.

In addition, DSS has been criminally negligent again this year. Albrizio has been living with another family with young children for over a year with the approval of DSS once again. Since that family is under DSS supervision, it had to approve of the arrangement.

At sentencing, Judge Joan Lynch told the defendant, Steven Albrizio, "You are cruel and callous. You have tormented the children in an environment they were unable to leave. It will take the children a long time, if ever, to heal. The defendant doesn't deserve leniency."

It was revealed in our May article that DSS knew in 1996 when the crimes were occurring that Albrizio was a serial predator who is listed on their own Central Registry of Child Abusers for three different cases. He also has a long criminal record, which includes 108 arraignments up to 1996. The DSS knew all of this and yet in all their contacts with the mother, they never told her about the danger that she and her children were in.

Commissioner Jeffrey Locke did not tell the truth when he told the Cape Cod Times last year that his agency didn't realize Albrizio's behavior because they hadn't checked their computer. The mother knows that is not true because she has obtained the DSS records - which show that the case workers did check his identity and they did know he is a predator. But they never informed the mother. The mother did not know of the abuse until she saw what was in the records

The DSS never told the mother about his crimes even though they approved of Albrizio to take care of her children while she worked. They say she used poor judgment and they are in the process of sending her children to adoption.

We reported about the matter in May because her three children were being told they must engage in "termination" therapy with their mother and be ready for adoption.

We have reported many times that DSS is looking for healthy, attractive children like these to take away from their parents and prepare for adoption because the agency gets a bounty from the federal government for each child they are able to have adopted. They obtain over $100 million per year in this manner, which goes directly to DSS and not to the state treasury. The federal government provides this money in an attempt to help the children but it is actually damaging many of them and tearing them from their parents.

[Archive: There are many stories about DSS on our Archive. See the December issue for an interesting, comprehensive study of this failed agency. See the May issue to read about the family that suffered because of  Steven Albrizio and DSS. For other revealing stories, search the Archive for "DSS."]