Parole denied for ex-Westford man in series of 1980's rapes

Lowell SUN
Parole denied for ex-Westford man in series of 1980s rapes
By Kris Pisarik, kpisarik@lowellsun.com
03/25/2010
WESTFORD -- A former Westford man, dubbed the "mall rapist" for sexually assaulting 20 women after kidnapping them from North Shore shopping centers more than 25 years ago, "should never see the light of day," a victim advocate warned yesterday.
Laurie Myers, of Community Voices, a Chelmsford-based watchdog group that monitors sex offenders, child-crime and missing-children's cases, applauded the Massachusetts Parole Board's unanimous decision in denying parole to Phillip Pizzo, 60.
Pizzo pleaded guilty in 1984 to 13 counts of aggravated rape, four counts of armed robbery while masked and two counts of armed robbery, for which he was sentenced to concurrent life terms. He was also convicted of seven counts of kidnapping. His sex crimes spanned Middlesex, Essex and Norfolk counties.
"Obviously, the board made the right decision, as much as the mental-health community thinks they (sex offenders) can be rehabilitated, they can't," said Myers, who is a former rape-crisis counselor in Lowell. "The more time they spend behind bars is a good thing."
The Parole Board released its Feb. 11 ruling on Tuesday. Pizzo's hearing was held Jan. 5, at which time he was quoted by the Boston Herald as stating, "I've hurt a lot of people in the past; I take full responsibility for that." But then Pizzo blamed his brutal crimes on his traumatic childhood, low self-esteem and rejection from women.
At that same hearing, Essex County Assistant District Attorney Kenneth
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Bresler called Pizzo "the worst rapist in the history of Massachusetts."
His boss, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, said that "five years from now, when he is again parole eligible, we will be present to vigorously oppose his release under any circumstances."
According to a narrative in the Parole Board's decision, Pizzo would accost women as they got into their cars while wearing a ski mask. He'd hold a knife to their throats, force them to the passenger seat and tie them up, covering their faces with a ski mask. He would then drive them to his 10 Butternut St., his Westford home, sometimes pinching their breasts and genitals along the way, the Parole Board stated.
He would ask them personal questions, like "Where do you work? Do you have a boyfriend? Are you faithful to him?" the report stated.
"We never knew anything was going on," said Robert Freeman, who still lives across the street from where Pizzo committed many of his crimes. "I don't know that anybody knew," he said, adding that Pizzo wasn't in the neighborhood for long and appeared to live alone.
Once inside his home, according to the parole report, Pizzo would force the women -- usually in their late teens or early 20s -- to drink liquor. He'd uncover their faces and cover his while repeatedly raping them. He'd then force them to take a shower and he'd drive them back to the mall from which they were abducted, the board stated.
In one incident, Pizzo stabbed a woman in the face at the Meadow Glen Mall in Medford as she tried to escape. He was finally arrested when police spotted his blue 1976 Cadillac prowling a shopping mall parking lot, authorities said.
"Phillip Pizzo's crimes were both far reaching and extremely disturbing and his series of rapes and kidnappings committed against young women terrorized residents across Eastern Massachusetts," Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone said in a statement. "We are pleased with the Parole Board's decision to deny this inmate parole."
Pizzo was declared a sexually dangerous person in 1985 and was committed for a day to life at the Massachusetts Treatment Center. The court ruled in 2009 he was no longer sexually dangerous, but prosecutors strongly disagreed.
The Parole Board noted that Pizzo has been enrolled in treatment programs during his civil commitment, but had not finished the Core Program, which lasts three years.
In its decision, the Parole Board stated that it "does not believe that he is ready for community supervision. To release him at this time would be an injustice to Mr. Pizzo and the community. In this case, public safety requires further incarceration."
Myers, the victim advocate, believes that should be permanent.
"If our judicial system works the way it should, he should never see the light of day," Myers said. "Everything he did points to him reoffending when he gets out. The odds are stacked against society.

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Lawrence man charged in rape of second Lowell student on his school bus

Eagle Tribune
Lawrence man charged in rape of second Lowell student on his school bus
By Mark E. Voglermvogler@eagletribune.com
March 26, 2010
LOWELL — A 22-year-old Lawrence man has been charged with the rape of a second teen-age girl who rode on the bus he drove for Lowell Public Schools.
Gian Carlos Mirabal, of 30 Jennings St., was arrested last month in the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl. He faces new allegations from a 15-year-old victim who recently came forward.
Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone revealed the second school bus rape victim yesterday after announcing that a grand jury at Lowell Superior Court earlier in the week had indicted Mirabal on two counts of forcible child rape.
District Attorney spokeswoman Cara O'Brien said the grand jury indictments relate to the alleged assaults on both victims.
A date for Mirabal's arraignment in Lowell Superior Court has not yet been set. Initially held on $50,000 cash bail, he had been scheduled for a probable cause hearing Monday in connection with the first case.
The rape allegations in connection with the first victim came to light last month after the manager of the North Reading Transportation Bus Company reviewed security footage of a bus that was involved in a minor accident on February 25. Mirabal has been a school bus driver for the company since last June.
While reviewing the footage, the bus company manager observed "suspicious behavior involving the bus driver and a 16-year-old female student on the bus," Lowell Police Captain Randall Humphrey said in a press statement earlier this month.
The bus company contacted a school official who alerted authorities.
The investigation determined that last fall Mirabal began to ask the first victim, then in the eighth grade, to remain on the bus after he dropped the other students off. He would allegedly drive the bus to another area and assault the victim, investigators said.
The victim, who first met Mirabal last spring when she was in still in the seventh grade, told authorities she did not want to be on the bus with him.
But Mirabal physically kept her from leaving at least once and ordered her not to tell anyone about the assaults, according to investigators.
"A second victim, 15 at the time, has since come forward also alleging inappropriate behavior by the defendant," Leone said.

War on sex crimes must be waged on many fronts

The Patriot Ledger

Posted Mar 27, 2010 @ 06:00 AM

EDITORIAL —

A sex crime in California that captivated the nation for most of this month was a painful and frightening reminder of our vulnerability to such predators.

Local police and prosecutors say there’s no reason to believe the same type of brutal attack – which led to the Feb. 28 arrest of a convicted sex offender for the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in California – couldn’t happen here.

Registered sex offender John Albert Gardner III is accused of murdering Chelsea King and is a suspect in the murder of 14-year-old Amber Dubois as well.

His arrest has raised many questions.

Do sex offender registries work?

Should residency laws be strengthened to further corral where offenders can live and work?

Should the worst offenders serve longer sentences or be incarcerated for life?

Unfortunately, there are no simple answers.

Our prison system is already overburdened. And limits on where sex offenders can live and work push them further away from the support and services that are needed to keep them from re-offending.

“This problem doesn’t lend itself to one solution,” said William Keating, Norfolk County District Attorney.

Both he and Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz have lobbied for longer prison sentences, extended probation or lifetime parole for the worst offenders.

“Some of these people can’t be fixed or helped,” Cruz said. “Some of them should never be released.”

Opponents to such moves argue they violate our Constitution and would push the prison system to the point of collapse and bankrupt the state in the process.

The parents of Chelsea King have launched a campaign in California – with plans to push it as a federal law – that would strengthen oversight of child-sex predators.

They’ve introduced a bill, called Chelsea’s Law, that would increase electronic monitoring, including lifetime parole with GPS monitoring for certain offenders.

It’s an idea worth serious consideration.

Meanwhile, there are things that should change immediately, such as aggressively using existing laws.

That means judges imposing maximum-allowed sentences on the predators most likely to re-offend. That means vigilant enforcement of the existing terms of parole and probation. It also means parents taking advantage of access to information – either through the state or at local police departments – about potential threats.

Yes, the sex offender registry has it’s flaws. Some offenders do not register properly or at all.

But while it cannot pinpoint all possible threats, it gives parents more information than they would have without it.

Few things elicit the kind of visceral reaction we have to stories of sex crimes against children.

Elected representatives should continue to push for laws that improve protections without bankrupting us or gutting our system of justice.

At the same time, stories like Chelsea King’s are important reminders that even as legal protections evolve, we can never let down our guard.

Copyright 2010 The Patriot Ledger. Some rights reserved

Island Man Arrested on Rape Charges

Vineyard Gazette
News Update: Friday, March 19

Island Man Arrested on Rape Charges

By JIM HICKEY
An Island man arrested this week is facing several charges of rape and indecent assault and battery against a mentally retarded person.
Peter Duart, 41, a registered Level II sex offender as well as a former assistant coach of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School football team, and an elected, currently serving member of the Tisbury planning board, was arrested by Massachusetts state police on Wednesday in Dartmouth after Oak Bluffs police issued a warrant for his arrest.
Mr. Duart was apprehended at a restaurant in Dartmouth. He was found to be in possession of over $5,000 in cash as well as his passport.
State police from the Oak Bluffs barracks traveled to Dartmouth to pick up Mr. Duart after his arrest, and he was brought back to the Island to be processed.
Oak Bluffs police obtained a search warrant to search Mr. Duart’s home on Daggett avenue in Tisbury, based on allegations that he possessed child pornography. During the search, police seized a laptop computer, DVDs as well as letters and notes.
He was arraigned on Thursday morning, bail was set at $50,000, and he was ordered to surrender his passport.
He is being held at the Dukes County Jail, according to a statement issued Friday by Oak Bluffs police.
In 2003 Mr. Duart was indicted by a grand jury on one count of rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a retarded person.

Sex offender held in a rape of disabled man

Salem News
3-4-2010
Sex offender held in rape of disabled man
By Julie ManganisStaff writer
BEVERLY — A Level 3 sex offender has been charged with forcing a disabled man to engage in sexual acts in a rooming house apartment, according to court documents.
Wayne Dion, 57, who was convicted of child rape and dissemination of obscene material to minors back in 1997, is considered at the highest risk of reoffending by the Sex Offender Registry Board.
He is now being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing, after his arrest Monday on a charge of rape.
On Monday afternoon, police were called to 9 Park St., where Dion has been living, and met a 36-year-old disabled man who told police that Dion had forced him to engage in sexual acts, according to a police report.
The younger man said he had known Dion for two to three months and said Dion had repeatedly offered him marijuana if he would engage in sexual activity with him.
The younger man told police that he refused.
Police knocked on Dion's door and got no answer, though they could hear a television. According to the report, police went to the building manager when no one answered, because they were concerned that Dion might be in medical distress; he has diabetes and uses a machine to help him breathe at night because of sleep apnea.
He wasn't there.
Police arrested him when he showed up at the police station to re-register as a sex offender. It was unclear from the report what prompted that visit.
Prosecutors at Dion's arraignment Tuesday asked Judge Robert Brennan to hold Dion without bail as a danger to the community. Brennan allowed the request to hold Dion until a full hearing on March 8.
http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_063001149.html

Lynn man sentenced for aggravated rape

Lynn Item
3-4-2010
Lynn man sentenced for aggravated rape
By Karen A. Kapsourakis / For the Item

NEWBURYPORT - A Lynn man convicted of raping and beating a woman with a sword at his Alley Street home in 2008 may spend up to 25 years behind bars.Cornelius Moore, 52, of 82 Alley St., #2, Lynn, went on trial last week in Newburyport Superior Court on charges of aggravated rape and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a sword, in connection with a sexual assault at his home on Aug. 18, 2008.A 12-person jury comprised of eight women and four men deliberated for about three hours, finding Moore guilty as charged Tuesday afternoon.He was sentenced Wednesday afternoon by Judge Richard E. Welch, III, to serve 12-to-15 years in state prison on the aggravated rape charge and will serve another 8-to-10-years in prison on the assault and battery with a dangerous weapon charge.In essence, Moore will serve not less than 20 years and not more than 25 years in prison before he is released.Assistant District Attorney Greg A. Friedholm presented evidence at trial that on the night of Aug. 18 the victim, who was in her 50s, went to his apartment to apparently see an area where she could store some items. They were acquaintances at the time.While at his apartment, Moore forced himself on the woman while threatening and beating her with a sword.Defense lawyer Rebecca Whitehill argued during the trial that the women had fabricated the incident and that her client was innocent of all charges. Moore did not take the stand in his own defense.Friedholm sought a 25-to-30 year punishment, saying it was based upon "not only the violence perpetrated upon the victim, but also takes into consideration the violent criminal history of the defendant that spanned two decades," he said.Moore has numerous violence charges on his record, including a 2005 Lynn incident when he allegedly rammed his car at patrons standing outside Cesar's Palace Lounge on Buffum Street after bartenders had ejected him for being belligerent and verbally abusive.Moore is also a registered sex offender for being previously convicted of indecent assault and battery.Whitehill asked the judge for leniency, proposing a lesser punishment.Friedholm later credited the work of the Lynn Police Department for their investigation of the case.Moore was indicted by an Essex County grand jury in September of 2008 and has been held in custody in lieu of $50,000 cash bail since being arraigned. The judge credited him the 562 days he spent awaiting trial on the case.