Boston Sexual Abuse Lawyer Blog

A Massachusetts judge on Friday awarded a total of $3 million to two child sex abuse victims of a former Franciscan priest who served prison time for child molestation in a separate case.

Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders entered the judgment against John Dority, awarding one victim $2 million and the other $1 million. Both were abused in Boston between 1965 and 1971, starting when they were ages 10 and 13.
Their attorney, Carmen Durso, said Sanders said that no amount of money could compensate either victim for their suffering.
Dority, 70, was convicted of child molestation in Rhode Island in 2005 and released from prison in 2007.

In interview in March, Dority told The Associated Press that he never answered the lawsuit because he couldn't afford an attorney and because the allegations are true.
"What I did was completely wrong. I admit that," Dority said. "I'm very sorry for the trouble I caused, the harm I caused."
Durso said he doesn't think Dority has the money to pay the judgments, but such cases aren't about money for most victims.
"They want someone to place a value on their life and what they've lost," he said.

A Stoughton woman offered an undercover state trooper 12 women who would perform sex services during a "private party" at her Brockton spa for $1,720, the Enterprise News reported.
Terry Mussari, 45, pleaded not guilty to charges of deriving support from prostitution during a brief arraignment in Brockton District Court. She was released on $2,000 cash bail, and is scheduled back in court on Jan. 9.
State police and the FBI raided three spas owned by Mussari, including Aria Day Spa in Brockton, Sparkle Day Spa in Canton and Spa Bellissimo in Norwood, following an investigation into prostitution and illicit drug dealing.
Investigators said the spas were offering sex between masseuses and their clients in exchange for cash that was characterized as "tips." Authorities also said employees of the spa were selling narcotics to customers as well as to each other.
Prosecutor Dean Mazzone said Mussari ran "basically a prostitution ring."
Mussari's lawyer, William Sims, said during her arraignment that she owned a home in Stoughton, was married with a daughter and had no prior convictions.
Mussari was the owner of an Easton spa that was also investigated for prostitution in 2003.
On Monday, the sign on the door of Aria Day Spa said it opened at 10 a.m., but the lights were off and the door was locked,
Authorities also arrested Tiffany Burgess, 31, of Raynham on multiple outstanding arrest warrants. She was released on $200 cash bail, but has not been charged in connection with the raid.

NEW BEDFORD Police have arrested a registered Level 3 sex offender after reportedly stumbling upon an attempted rape.

William H. Fuller, 51, who is homeless, was charged with kidnapping, assault to murder and assault to rape. He will appear for a dangerousness hearing in New Bedford District Court.

Fuller, who has a 1998 conviction for indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, is classified as a Level 3 sex offender, considered the most dangerous and likely to reoffend, according to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry.

A court psychologist said during Fuller's arraignment in District Court that he has a longstanding history of substance abuse and has been committed twice this year to Bridgewater State Hospital.

Sgt. Matt Rayner, head of the New Bedford Police Department's juvenile and sexual assault unit, said patrol officers responded to an unrelated disturbance around 3:45 a.m. Saturday in the West End when they heard the alleged victim's voice.

Rayner declined to release additional details, citing the state's rape shield laws, but said the responding officers aided the victim at the scene and "prevented things from getting worse."

AMHERST, Mass. - Everywoman's Center ( EWC ) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been awarded a three-year, $112,000 grant to provide outreach, counseling and sexual assault prevention education in the rural communities of Hampshire County. EWC is partnering with the state Department of Public Health, which was awarded more than $1 million by the federal Office on Violence Against Women ( OVW ) to support sexual and domestic violence prevention and intervention services in rural western Massachusetts communities.

Survivors of sexual and domestic violence in rural Hampshire communities face unique barriers when seeking support and intervention, according to Becky Lockwood, associate director for rape crisis and violence prevention services at EWC. Those barriers include geographic isolation, municipal police departments without full-time staff, lack of public transportation to larger communities where most medical and mental health services are provided, and fear of discussing abuse issues in small communities because "everyone knows everyone else's business."

With the funding, said Lockwood, EWC will reach out to survivors of sexual assault who live in rural communities and offer free peer counseling and support groups. A new focus of the project includes meeting with health care providers to develop screening and referral policies for teens and adults who have experienced sexual assault. EWC will also collaborate with area schools, social service agencies and youth groups to provide educational workshops on preventing sexual violence, including preventing the perpetration of child sexual abuse, she said.

The federally designated "rural" communities in Hampshire County to be served by the grant include Amherst, Belchertown, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Granby, Middlefield, Plainfield, Southampton, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Worthington. Other community organizations that are partnered with the Department of Public Health for the grant include NELCWIT in Franklin County and the Elizabeth Freeman Center in Berkshire County.

The Everywoman's Center Rape Crisis and Violence Prevention Programs provide rape crisis services for survivors of sexual violence including a 24-hour hotline, crisis intervention and counseling, help with the medical and legal systems and support. Rape crisis services and violence prevention programs are available at no cost to the Five College and Hampshire County communities at 888/337-0800 or 413/577-0940 ( TTY ).

Federal Court judge Denise Casper has entered summary judgment for Defendant Cultural Care in a case brought by plaintiff, on behalf of herself and her son, alleging gross negligence, fraud, fraudulent and deceptive business practices in violation of Massachusetts and Illinois law and intentional infliction of emotional distress after an au pair provided by the defendants allegedly sexually abused her son.

Casper ruled that with respect to the allegation of inadequate screening, [plaintiff Jane] Doe presents no evidence that Defendants did not properly screen [au pair Julian] Reyes or that through [defendant] Cultural Care's screening process, there was any indication that Reyes had any propensity for or had ever engaged in any abusive behavior.

"Doe also alleges Cultural Care failed to conduct a criminal background search. The record shows that this allegation is not true; Cultural Care conducted a background check which revealed that Reyes had no criminal record. ...

"... The failure to provide Doe with the other host family's information or failing to inform Doe that Reyes had been discharged by two prior host families simply does not demonstrate the requisite indifference or 'the want of even scant care' ... required to establish gross negligence. ...The same is true as to the Defendants' alleged failure to inform Doe that Reyes was a smoker or drinker prior to hiring him.

... Nor could a jury conclude that it was reasonably foreseeable -- i.e., that Defendants knew or should have known -- that John Doe would be abused as a result of Defendants' conduct and that Defendants were therefore grossly negligent in placing Reyes in, and not removing him earlier, from Doe's residence. ...

"... The amended complaint alleges that Defendants violated ch. 93A by 'engaging in a pattern and practice of inadequate screening, concealing problems with au pairs and making knowing or willful misrepresentations concerning the circumstances surrounding the separation of au pairs from prior host families,' ... but as explained above, Doe has failed to show that Defendants' conduct including the alleged misrepresentations or omissions caused the harm allegedly suffered by John Doe. Summary judgment is therefore granted in Defendants' favor as to Count V."

The case is Doe v. Cultural Care, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 02-294-11) (21 pages) (Casper, J.) (USDC) (Civil Action No. 10-11426-DJC) (Oct. 7, 2011).

Thomas Scully, a Beverly Public Library employee who pled guilty to child pornography possession in 2009, is entitled to have his retirement allowance reinstated, a three-judge Appeals Court panel has ruled, overturning the judgment of lower courts on the grounds that his crimes were not directly related to his job, as reported by the State House News Service.

"While Scully's conduct was reprehensible, in view of the narrow interpretation that consistently has been given to [state pension law] we are constrained to conclude that the mandatory forfeiture of Scully's pension was not legally tenable," according to the unanimous ruling, penned by Judge Ariane Vuono.

Vuono argued that the judges were required to interpret state law narrowly based on prior rulings. "Moreover, despite this consistent interpretation, the Legislature has not modified the statute," she wrote.

The ruling reinstates the pension of Scully, the Beverly library's former director of community service. Scully, who began working at the library in 1986, resigned in 2005 after police raided his home and discovered seven images of child pornography on his computer.

The discovery came during an investigation into allegations that Scully had an inappropriate relationship with a library patron who was 15 years old at the time.

Prosecutors alleged that Scully met the boy at the library and invited him to his home, where he regularly allowed him to view pornography.

The State House News Services reports that prosecutors charged Scully with possession of child pornography, distributing obscene material to a minor and indecent assault and battery. However, the assault charge was dropped and Scully struck a plea deal in which he admitted only to possession of child pornography.

After he resigned from the library, Scully applied for a retirement allowance, which he was granted. But after his conviction in 2009, the Beverly Retirement Board voted 3-2 to revoke his pension on the grounds that his crimes involved his relationship with a minor who he met at the library. The decision was later affirmed by the District Court and the Superior Court.

But the Appeals Court, in its ruling, argued that the lower courts misapplied state pension law, which requires forfeiture of a retiree's pension after a conviction on a criminal offense "involving violation of the laws applicable to his office or position."

Continue reading "Beverly Employee Caught With Porn Gets Pension Reinstated" »

A Gardner man who spent 14 years as a city police officer has resigned from the force.

Larry Landry was placed on paid leave when he was arrested last month on charges of statutory rape of a child, indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14 and assault to rape a child. He sent his resignation letter to the mayor last week.

Prosecutors say the 35-year-old Landry assaulted the boy starting in kindergarten until the sixth-grade. The alleged incidents took place in Winchendon.

Landry has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer said he has served honorably.

Landry and another man were separately charged with indecent assault and battery on a 20-year-old woman.

The state Appeals Court has overturned the conviction of a Lowell woman found guilty along with her husband in 1997 of drugging and raping their four sons because she may have been incompetent to stand trial.

The court in its decision last week said a Superior Court judge erred in 2002 when he denied Nancy Adkinson's motion for a new trial. The judge said even though Adkinson suffered from abuse at the hands of her husband, a competency hearing was not required.

The Appeals Court said in its decision that the Superior Court judge's definition of competency was "too narrow" and there was "substantial evidence" that Adkinson was incompetent.

Prosecutors told The Sun of Lowell that they are reviewing the ruling.

Adkinson was sentenced to 35 to 40 years in prison.

The Boston Globe reports about a bill that would eliminate civil and criminal statutes of limitations for childhood sex abuse cases and also abolish the antiquated charitable immunity law for those same cases.

I fully support this proposed law, The Protection from Sexual Predators Act of 2011, House Bill No. 469.

A van company hired by the Peabody School Department to transport students to a summer program has been sued on behalf of four children allegedly molested and assaulted by a bus monitor.

The lawsuit filed in September in Salem Superior Court alleges that Ameriken Caring Services of Revere failed to provide safe transportation to the children -- three boys and a girl ages 9 and 10 -- and failed to protect them by negligently hiring, supervising and retaining the monitor.

The Salem News reported that the children allegedly were touched inappropriately, pinched on the thighs hard enough to leave bruises, and suffered other physical abuse. The monitor's name was not disclosed.