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THE LATEST: TOWN POLICE HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH SEX OFFENDERS
Associated Press
July 28, 2017
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BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (AP) -- The Latest on the release from prison of a former Roman Catholic priest convicted of child rape (all times local):
10:15 a.m.
Police in the town where a notorious figure in the Boston Roman Catholic priest child abuse scandal is expected to live have plenty of experience with sex offenders.
Paul Shanley was released Friday from prison after spending 12 years behind bars on a child rape conviction. The state's sex offender registry shows Shanley is the 20th Level 3 sex offender to move to Ware. Level 3 offenders are considered the most likely to re-offend.
Several other sex offenders already live on the street where the 86-year-old Shanley will live.
Ware Police Chief Shawn Crevier says it's one the most heavily patrolled areas of the town.
He says he will "do what we need to do to make sure the citizens are protected and (Shanley's) rights are also protected."
Ware has about 10,000 residents and is located about 65 miles (105 kilometers) west of Boston.
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9:30 a.m.
The governor of Massachusetts says he plans on reviewing the standards used to determine whether a person who has completed a prison sentence for a sex crime is sexually dangerous and can be civilly committed.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker made his comments Thursday, the day before Paul Shanley, a central figure in Boston's Roman Catholic priest sex abuse scandal, was released from prison. Shanley was released from a Bridgewater prison after serving 12 years in prison on a child rape conviction.
Baker says he knows people "who were horribly affected and damaged by Paul Shanley."
Prosecutors sought to hold Shanley beyond his criminal sentence under a law that allows civil commitment of people deemed sexually dangerous. But two experts hired by the state found he did not meet the legal criteria to hold him.
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9:10 a.m.
A lawyer who represented dozens of men who say they were abused by a former Boston Roman Catholic priest who's been released from prison says the man shouldn't be in "the outside world" where he can gain access to children.
Paul Shanley was released from a prison in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, on Friday after serving a 12-year sentence for the rape of a boy.
The state's sex offender registry lists Shanley as a Level 3 offender, meaning he is most likely to re-offend. The registry says he plans to live in the town of Ware. Shanley won't have to wear an electronic monitor.
Lawyer Mitchell Garabedian says Shanley should be confined to a hospital where he can be treated.
Shanley's lawyer says he has served his time and is not dangerous.
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7:50 a.m.
A notorious figure in the Boston Roman Catholic priest sex abuse scandal has been released from prison after completing a 12-year sentence for the rape of a boy in the 1980s.
Massachusetts prison officials say Paul Shanley was released from the Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater on Friday.
Shanley was a "street priest" who ministered to alienated youth in the 1960s and '70s. Decades later, dozens of men came forward and said Shanley had molested or raped them. He was defrocked by the Vatican and convicted of raping a boy at a Newton parish.
Abuse victims say they're concerned the 86-year-old Shanley will not have enough supervision. He isn't required to wear an electronic monitoring device.
His lawyer says he's served his time and is not dangerous.
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12:40 a.m.
Protesters are vowing to demonstrate outside the Massachusetts prison where a notorious figure in the Boston clergy sex abuse scandal is being released after completing a 12-year sentence for raping a boy in the 1980s.
Paul Shanley is expected to be released from the Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater on Friday.
Shanley was a "street priest" who ministered to alienated youth in the 1960s and '70s. Decades later, dozens of men came forward and said Shanley had molested or raped them. He was defrocked by the Vatican and convicted of raping a boy at a Newton parish.
Sexual abuse victims say they're concerned the 86-year-old Shanley will not have enough supervision after he's released. He'll be monitored by probation officials, but isn't required to wear an electronic monitoring device.
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