Psychologist: Shanley Was A ‘Monster’

CBS Boston
July 29, 2017

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/07/28/psychologist-shanley-still-monster/

Paul Shanley at the Ware Police Station July 28, 2017. (Photo credit: Lana Jones

WARE (CBS) — A forensic psychologist says that convicted sex offender Paul Shanley should still be behind bars.

Shanley is classified as a “Level 3 Sex Offender” and that designation is given to those who are considered to be high risks to re-offend.

Paul Zeizel, in fact, referred to Shanley as a “monster.”

“Shanley was a monster and there’s no doubt about that,” Zeizel said about the 86-year-old former priest. “From mu understanding the age of his victims were remarkably young.”

At least one of his victims was six-years-old.

Paul Shanley is now 86 and free, but people are asking if he is free of the pedophile impulses that scarred two dozen kids.

“We look at the research variables to determine if there are any factors that point in the direction of the likelihood of re-offending or recidivating,” Zeizel said.

Two psychologists studied Shanley’s records and recommended that he be released from prison and that he was no longer a danger to the public. Dr. Zeisel says it’s common for psychologists to make such recommendations without actually interviewing the convict. The convict also doesn’t have to submit to being interviewed in order to be released. Dr. Zeisel is troubled by what could turn out to be one glaring fact.

“The most dangerous subset of the sex-offending population are pedophiles–male pedophiles who have male victims,” Zeisel said.

The psychologist also wonders whether or not at the advanced age of 86, that a sociopath like Paul Shanley could revert to his old ways.