In Koe v. Commissioner of Probation, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that G.L. c.276, §100A(6), which prohibits a former level two sex offender from sealing a criminal record, violates state rights to due process and is therefore unconstitutional as applied under the circumstances present in this case. The background was…
In a recent decision – Commonwealth v. Sylvester – the Supreme Judicial Court discussed whether an attorney’s failure to advise a client of his obligation to register as a sex offender during a 2002 plea constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. The decision, however, fails to address how additional sex offender registration…
In a recent case, Doe, Sex Offender Registry Board No. 380316 v. Sex Offender Registry Board, the Supreme Judicial Court changed the standard of proof applicable to classification determinations by the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB), discarding the existing “preponderance of the evidence” standard in favor of the more stringent…
According to an article in the MetroWest Daily News, a Framingham District Court judge ordered a Rhode Island man held without bail in relation to several sexual assault charges. The article states that the man is accused of sexually assaulting and raping the alleged victim over a period of years,…
According to an article in the MetroWest Daily News, a Norfolk County Agricultural High School teacher was recently charged with raping a child. The teacher is specifically charged with (1) rape of a child with force; (2) aggravated rape of a child; and (3) indecent assault and battery of a…
Under Massachusetts G. L. c. 123A, § 12, if the Commonwealth has reason to believe a person convicted of a sex offense is likely to re-offend, it may file a petition in the Superior Court alleging the person is a “sexually dangerous person,” and request that the person be civilly committed.…
According to an article in the MetroWest Daily News, the senior foreman for the Wayland Department of Public Works was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on Friday on various sex offenses, specifically: four counts of rape of a child by force, and two counts of indecent assault and…
According to an article in the MetroWest Daily News, an Ashland man was charged with rape this past week. The article states that the alleged victim, a woman, went to the man’s house this past Tuesday night. It’s unclear whether she was an invited guest, dropped by unexpectedly, and/or what…
According to an article in the MetroWest Daily News, a judge recently excluded certain evidence that the Commonwealth sought to introduce against a twenty-six year old man accused of raping a twelve year old in Northborough. The man reportedly met the alleged victim on MySpace. The two met on at…
According to an article in the MetroWest Daily News, a Chelsea man is scheduled to go to trial this coming week on charges of sexual assault. The article states that the defendant, who was twenty-six years old at the time, became friends with the alleged victim, who was twelve years…