Boston Area News

BOSTON (WBZ) ― The rape this week of a 6-year-old boy in a public library has reignited debate over a state law allowing sexually dangerous predators to be locked up indefinitely after completing their prison terms.
 
The suspect in the boy's assault was convicted of indecent assault on a boy in 2001 and was released about one year ago by a judge over the objections of prosecutors and three psychologists who said he was dangerous and would likely strike again.
 
Corey Saunders, 26, was arrested outside a homeless shelter Wednesday evening shortly after the boy was assaulted at a New Bedford library while the child's mother was using a computer nearby.

Massachusetts law allows judges to commit sex offenders indefinitely if they're found to be dangerous and likely to reoffend. But Bristol Superior Court Judge Richard Moses rejected the motion by the district attorney's office to keep him in custody.

The judge cited Saunders' low IQ, his history of being sexually abused as a child and his lack of sexual offenses while in prison. A psychologist for the defense said he was not likely to re-offend. Even though Saunders had difficulty in completing his treatment program, "such fact alone does not establish likelihood of reoffense," the judge wrote.

"The court finds it significant that Saunders' offending conduct took place over seven years ago. Also, Saunders, who has experienced an extremely difficult childhood and has a borderline IQ, was far from emotionally mature at the time of his offending conduct," the judge said in rejecting the petition to commit Saunders.

Former Bristol district attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr., who filed the petition, said Friday he can't remember a case in which there was more overwhelming evidence for the prosecution.

"In this case, you had prior criminal offenses, failure to complete treatment programs, three psychologists saying he was dangerous," he said. "I don't know what more you could have. If that is not sufficient, I don't know what more would be needed."

The judge is not allowed to comment on a pending case.

Suzanne DelVecchio, the retired chief justice of the state Superior Court, said Moses "is a wonderful judge, very cautioned in his decisions."

"He thinks them through, and I am sure it has been very difficult for him since this happened," she said.

Saunders, who was convicted in 2001 of indecent assault and battery and attempted child rape on a child for attacking a 7-year-old boy in a foster home where he was placed, is classified as a Level 3 sex offender, the state's most dangerous designation.  He had registered with police as a sex offender, as required by law.

He spent four years behind bars on the 2001 conviction, completing his sentence in December 2006. He had been living in Boston and recently spending time in homeless shelters in New Bedford. His attorney, public defender Lee Fortier, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Authorities say he lured the boy into a secluded corner and raped him.

New Bedford police Lt. Jeff Silva said the boy did not scream because he was so paralyzed by fear. Saunders demanded the boy's address and threatened to rape him again, Silva said.

"I think what shocked us the most is how bold this was," Silva said. "It was 5 p.m. in a very busy library. What kind of monster attacks a kid? How is this guy out on the streets?"

A librarian who became suspicious when she saw the boy and Saunders together alerted the boy's mother, authorities said.

Saunders is being held without bail pending a hearing scheduled for Thursday. He is charged with rape of a child by force, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and enticing a child. 

Psychologist Paula Erickson, who once worked at the Bridgewater Threatment Center for the sexually dangerous, evaluated pedophiles like Cory Saunders.  Erickson said Saunders should never have been released from Bridgewater two years ago.

"Decisions like this anger me and make me think about how long we have been doing this in this state -- releasing people based upon that sexually dangerous law," she said.

"It is a tragedy that this took place," current District Attorney Sam Sutter said. "This incident dramatizes exactly why we have a Sexually Dangerous Persons protocol."

But John Swomley, a defense lawyer who has represented some sex offenders, said it is almost impossible to predict someone's future behavior.

"What happened in this particular case is awful, but I'm not a proponent of civil commitment. I call it involuntary commitment," he said. "You are putting them in prison for crimes they didn't commit."

The civil commitment law as it currently stands is based on politics and not on science, he said, suggesting longer prison terms for people convicted of sex crimes.

"You can't give them a deterrant," Erickson said. "They can stay in jail for 25 years, get out and offend again as soon as they leave."

Judges must make their decisions based on the law, and the law says that at civil commitment hearings, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is likely to re-offend, DelVecchio said.

This case was difficult because there was one psychologist who determined that Saunders would not strike again.

"It's heartbreaking for a judge when we make these decisions and we're wrong, but judges make thousands of decisions and we're only remembered when we're wrong," she said.

Walsh said the state's civil commitment law is necessary because sex offenders are incurable.

"In my 20 years as a prosecutor, never in my life have I seen a person convicted of sex crimes cured, never say 'I don't have those feelings any more,"' said Walsh, who just finished a yearlong assignment at the National District Attorney's Association and plans on going into private practice.

"You need a law like this to balance a defendant's personal freedom against society's right to be safe," he said.

Erickson said the average pedophile is responsible for about 450 violations. 

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