State House News Service  

Boston, February 4, 1999--Repeat sex offenders could face mandatory life
sentences, lifetime parole and the possibility of civil commitment, under a
legislative package filed today by Gov. Paul Cellucci.

The governor re-filed the so-called "two strikes and you're out" legislation, which nearly passed last year but was defeated during an informal session when Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Boston) raised objections about civil liberties issues.  Joined at a State House press conference this morning by police chiefs, district attorneys, parents and their children, Cellucci described the three bills as "common sense initiatives." 

"Sexual predators commit horrific crimes and have a propensity to repeat
those crimes," he said. "Our legislation is designed to keep these criminals from claiming more victims."

One of the bills would mandate life sentences for any second-time sex
offender, and another would institute life-long parole for all sex offenders so law enforcement officials could closely monitor them.  Any parole violation, including missing a meeting, would mean five more years behind bars.

The third bill, which would apply to all currently incarcerated sex offenders, would reinstate civil commitments to target the most violent criminals, who are known high risks for recidivism. The likelihood of repeating their crimes makes sex offenders the "greatest challenge" to law enforcement officials, said Attorney General Thomas Reilly. 

"While in some cases, their problems may be treatable, they are not curable," Reilly said. "So it is imperative we have lifetime controls over these very dangerous people."

Plymouth County District Attorney Michael Sullivan said the proposed
legislation takes into consideration "the common knowledge and experience
regarding sex offenders, (which) is that sex offenders are the most dangerous, the least likely to benefit from treatment, and pose a significant risk of re-offending."  Sullivan said the typical male sex offender victimizes 400 people in his lifetime.

"For far too long, we've allowed victims of sexual assault to live in shame
and live in terror," he said. "The passage of this legislation will go a long way to remove the terror that every victim of sexual assault continues to feel."

The governor urged swift passage of the bills, pointing to the latest headline-grabbing child rape case, in which Northborough resident David
Kelley - three times accused and twice convicted of molesting children -
allegedly raped a four-year-old neighborhood boy last month.  Kelley was
registered as a sex offender and known to neighbors.

"Had this initiative been on the books last year when we urged its passage,
David Kelley ... would be now facing mandatory life in jail," Cellucci
said.  "We do want to make those who have committed one violent sex
offense....we want them to think twice before striking again."

Northborough resident Amy Clark - a mother of three whose eldest daughter attends a school across the street from where Kelley lived - said she was "terrified" when she learned about the man from a friend who lived near him and was able to check with police because of the proximity.  "Last month, my worst fears were realized when this man raped yet another child in Northborough, his fourth known offense," Clark said, her voice choking with tears as she added, "the child was four years old, the same age as my
daughter Deirdre."

Clark said her "fear turned to anger" when she learned that school and
police officials were limited in the information they were allowed to release to the public.  "The greatest protection we can offer our children is to keep known offenders confined, and then closely monitored if they are ever released," she said.  "Parents and their children should not be imprisoned by fear.  The anonymity of these predators gives them the advantage over us and our children. We must take that advantage away." 

Northborough Police Chief Ken Hutchins said the core unit of society is the
family, and when a sexual predator injures one child, it sends "a rippling
effect" throughout all families in a community.  "I just want to make a
comment to the legislators who are going to consider these bills," he said.
"This has been referred to as 'two strikes and you're out.'  I just want to have them have ever-most in their minds that every strike is the life of a child, and you can't afford to give very many strikes from legislation like this to protect the children of our community."

Cellucci has also re-filed legislation to "blow up" the state's CORI law,
which provides information on criminal records, and to "fix" the sex offender registry.  During this morning's informal House session, the CORI bill was sent to the Judiciary Committee and the sex offender registry bill to the Committee on Criminal Justice.

Sen. James Jajuga (D-Methuen) said the sex offender registry "is not enough."  He said the state must address the issue of recidivism.  Under
the proposed legislation, district attorneys and the attorney general could
petition for a review of cases where they suspect ongoing dangerousness.

"It's not enough to go to the sex offender registry and register, then roam around the Commonwealth," Jajuga said.  "We should be looking at these
individuals, determining if they still have a problem. If they do, we should be incarcerating them and holding them, and that's precisely what this legislation would do."

On the House side, Minority Leader Francis Marini (R-Hanson) pledged to do everything he could to see that the legislation passes quickly.  If it doesn't, Marini issued a challenge to the press.  "Let's meet back here in
three months and see if we can't figure out who on Earth could possibly
oppose these ideas that will protect the children of the Commonwealth," he
said. "Let's go ask them together - and I'll go with you - what their problem is."
 

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