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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