Man attacked after asking about unattended child

6-13-2014 Massachusetts:

A 72-year-old man who was concerned for the safety of a small child left alone in a stroller outside a downtown Dunkin’ Donuts Wednesday afternoon was violently assaulted after going inside to ask whose child it was, police said.

Steven Jonathan Thackery, 22, of 7 Orange St., Salem, then literally added insult to injury when he told to police that he thought the older man was a “pedophile,” an assertion he repeated in Salem District Court during his arraignment Thursday. The older man is not.

Now, Thackery — who was recently released from jail for other assaultive behavior, a prosecutor said — is being held on $10,000 bail, charged with assault and battery on an elderly person and violating the city’s knife ordinance.

Police were called to the Washington Street Dunkin’ Donuts around 3:30 p.m. for a report of a fight.

The older man, who had swelling on the left side of his face and a cut under his eye, told police that when he went inside to ask where the child’s guardian was, the man later identified as Thackery and Thackery’s girlfriend, Jamie Primus, yelled at him to mind his own business, according to a police report.

Nicole Pelletier, Outraged Mom, Allegedly Assaults Neighbor Who Faces Child Porn Charges

9-27-2014 Massachusetts:

A Massachusetts mom faces felony charges after she admitted to assaulting her neighbor, who had returned home after being arrested on child porn charges.

According to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun, Nicole Pelletier, 42, entered Gary Spring's condo through an unlocked door the evening of Sept. 22.

Spring, 61, a former Merrimack College professor who was recently fired after being charged with possession of child pornography, told police that he was in bed when Pelletier entered his bedroom and punched him square in the face.

The accused man lives in the apartment directly below Pelletier and her two children, 11 and 13. The woman, who was described in the report as "crying and visibly upset" with blood on her arm and hands, called 911 herself after attacking her neighbor.

Sheriff: Jared Remy fought child sex offender

4-8-2014 Massachusetts:

Accused killer Jared Remy told investigators from the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, “I did what I had to do — I got a child molester,” when he allegedly threw scalding water in the face of fellow detainee Jemery Hodges before a fight with a green plastic chair, soap and his fists, according to court documents released today.

“I had a plan and I did it. I took water, boiling hot water, and threw it in the guy’s face. I took a piece of soap and threw it at the guy’s face and hit him with a chair. Once I slipped, I punched him in the face,” Remy reportedly said during a videotaped interview following the incident Thursday morning in an overflow room of the Special Management Unit at the Cambridge jail, records state.

Hodges, 27, was watching television when Remy snuck up on him, a report by Sheriff Peter Koutoujian’s Investigations Unit states. The violent dustup was captured by surveillance video, the report states, and reportedly shows Remy striking Hodges with the chair five times with “overhead swings.”

Hodges was treated internally for burns on his face and cuts to his left hand.

Springfield man, detained; by neighbors, arrested on child-enticement charges as he is released from hospital

5-27-2009 Massachusetts:

SPRINGFIELD - Was it street justice that led to 61-year-old Randolph Barden's beating by neighbors earlier this month?

Or, was it some kind of vendetta on the part of the girls who accused him of attempting to lure them into his car with candy?

Barden's lawyer and a Hampden County assistant district attorney laid out their opposing views of Barden's beating in the McKnight neighborhood during his arraignment on child enticement charges Wednesday morning in Springfield District Court.

The beating that sent Barden to Baystate Medical Center for the better part of a week, occurred Friday night, according Sgt. John M. Delaney.

Officers Anthony Sowers and Craig Davis, dispatched to the area of Bay and Marion streets shortly after 9:30 p.m., discovered Barden laying on the ground suffering from injuries "and the whole neighborhood gathered around," Delaney said.

Paraplegic faces jail in violent citizen’s arrest

4-5-2011 Massachusetts:

Victim’ charged with child abuse

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe is pressing ahead with a felony assault charge that could put a paraplegic grandfather in the slammer for up to 10 years for whacking his 3-year-old granddaughter’s alleged molester with a Louisville slugger after setting a trap for his arrest.

As a result of 57-year-old Martha’s Vineyard computer salesman Frank Hebert’s unconventional citizen’s arrest, Joshua A. Hardy, 27, of Middleboro, now faces child molestation charges in a second case out of Wareham involving another little girl, authorities tell the Herald.

“I’m not a hero, that’s for damn sure,” Hebert, his voice cracking, said last night. “I’d do it again tomorrow, knowing the consequence. I didn’t have a choice. A 10-year-old kid could take me. This is not about me. This is about a tiny child. I would never tell her I took a risk for her. I’d tell her I loved her.”

Hebert, left confined to a wheelchair with only partial use of his arms after a car crash in Falmouth a decade ago, was summonsed to Edgartown District Court on March 25 and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He said he was advised by a judge to get an attorney and is due back in court May 2 for a pretrial conference.

Molotov Cocktail Thrown Into Occupied Home where a Registered Sex Offender Lives

5-18-2011 Massachusetts:

Harwich police issue Level 3 Sex Offender notice

Individual is not wanted by the authorities

ARWICH - The Harwich Police Department has issued a Level 3 Sex Offender community notice for an individual now living at 602 Queen Anne Road in Harwich. Cory N. Whitehead, 33, was convicted of three counts of rape and abuse of a child in 2001, according to police.

Whitehead is a white male, 6'01", 208 lbs, with brown hair and hazel eyes.

According to the SORB, Whitehead is currently employed in Bourne.

Whitehead has been designated a Level 3 Sex Offender by the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB). The Board has determined that this individual is at a high risk to re-offend and that the degree of dangerousness posed to the public is such that a substantial public safety interest is served by active community notification.

According to the Harwich police, Whitehead is one of four Level 3 Sex Offenders living in Harwich.

Last Wednesday, an unknown suspect threw a Molotov cocktail through a bedroom window at the home at 602 Queen Anne Road. Police are currently investigating the incident. It is unknown if the incident is related to Whitehead's status as a registered sex offender. ..Source.. by Harwich Police Department.

Wheelchair-Bound Vigilante Faces Charges

7-21-2011 Massachusetts:

Man Says He Was Protecting Girl From Alleged Abuser

BOSTON -- A wheelchair-bound Martha's Vineyard man is fighting to stay out of jail.

Frank Hebert, 57, is accused of striking an alleged pedophile with a bat inside a store earlier this year.

Even though child protection advocates are hailing Hebert as a hero, prosecutors aren't backing off on charges that could land him in jail for 10 years.

Hebert said he was trying to protect his granddaughter when he hit his girlfriend's son-in-law, Joshua Hardy, with a bat in February. Hebert said the girl told him Hardy, 28, had been assaulting the girl.

"He had been molesting her," Hebert said.

Hebert called state police. He said they decided to have Hardy come to Hebert's store, thinking he was there to pick up the girl. When inside, Hebert was supposed to call police. During the time they were inside the store, Hebert confronted Hardy.

"He turned white. After about two minutes, he said, 'OK, fine. I did it,'" Hebert said.

Hebert said Hardy tried to leave and a scuffle ensued.

"I hit him like a 2-year-old. I mean, I don't have any more power than that," Hebert said.

Hebert was charged with assault. Hardy said he would not testify against Hebert, but the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office refused to drop the case.

"If this is what they are after -- God help them," Hebert said. ..Source.. by WCVB TV.com

Prisoner punches accused child molester

8-9-2010 Massachusetts:

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) - A prisoner, already facing burglary charges, is now charged with assault and battery after he attacked a suspected child molester during a hearing inside New Bedford District Court.

William E. Reed, 43, of New Bedford was in court Thursday to face burglary charges when he punched John Messieri, 24, in the face, said Gregg Miliote, spokesman for the Bristol County District Attorney's Office.

Messieri is accused of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's 7-year-old daughter in Fairhaven. He was hearing the charges against him when the assault happened.

Court officers then jumped in to separate the prisoners, Miliote said.

The judge revoked Reed's bail from a prior burglary case. He will spend the next 60 days in prison. After that, Reed will held on $5,000 for the assault charge.

As for Messieri, Fairhaven police arrested him last week, after the mother of his alleged victim told investigators she saw her boyfriend molesting her daughter.

She told police she asked Messieri to tuck the girl into bed and then walked in during the alleged act.

The child then told investigators Messieri had touched her inappropriately on several occasions, even though she said no.

The judge ordered Messieri held on $50,000 and revoked bail from a previous charge of driving with a suspended license, Miliote confirmed.

He's due back in court Sept. 1. ..Source.. by Nancy Krause

MA- Coakley wins injunction against neighbor from hell

4-3-2009 Massachusetts:

Last week Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced that her office had obtained a three-year injunction against Deborah May, a Norwood woman accused of terrorizing her gay former neighbor.

The injunction comes as part of a settlement with May, approved by Norfolk Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh. In January Coakley succeeded in obtaining a civil rights injunction against May (see "AG Coakley slaps civil rights injunction on homophobic neighbor from hell," Jan. 7).

"Hate-motivated conduct cannot be and is not tolerated in Massachusetts," wrote Coakley in a statement announcing the settlement. "Everyone in this state is entitled to reside in their home free of bias-motivated harassment and intimidation. Our office will continue to aggressively pursue cases where intolerance interferes with another person’s civil rights."

According to Coakley’s office May, who does not have a listed phone number and who Bay Windows was unable to reach for comment, engaged in harassment of her former neighbor for several months, beginning in November 2007. Coakley’s office alleges that May, who at the time lived in the same apartment complex as the victim, began spreading rumors that he was a pedophile and sexual predator.

Six months later she complained to the landlord about the victim’s Pride flag hanging outside his window, prompting the landlord to ask him to remove it. On several occasions May allegedly shouted anti-gay epithets at him within the presence of fellow tenants, and on one occasion she physically confronted him in his yard. Last August she filed a baseless complaint against him to Norwood police, claiming that he tried to expose himself to her.

Under the terms of the settlement May is prohibited from threatening or harassing anyone in the state based on his or her actual or perceived sexual orientation. She must also refrain from contacting her former neighbor and his family, and she must stay 500 feet away from him and his residence and 500 yards away from his place of employment. Should she violate the terms she could face a fine of up to $5000 and a two-and-a-half year jail sentence; if she causes bodily injury while violating the agreement the penalty could be as high as a $10,000 fine and a 10-year sentence. ..News Source.. by Ethan Jacobs

Southbridge sex offender says police singling him out for ruin

7-29-2006 Massachusetts:

SOUTHBRIDGE— A Level 3 sex offender who was recently released from prison is accusing police of “a crusade” to ruin him.

Police have been working with the man’s neighbors, who are taking extra precautions since his release May 31 from the Worcester County House of Correction in West Boylston.

The offender, Benjamin F. Pierce, responded Thursday and yesterday to a story published Thursday in the Telegram & Gazette about a community meeting on sex offenders hosted by police Wednesday night.

Mr. Pierce, 54, of 11 Jennison St., most recently served 18 months on a 2004 charge in Southbridge for breaking and entering a motor vehicle and larceny.

His sex-crime history includes a conviction in 1980 for a rape that occurred three years earlier in Durham, N.H. Mr. Pierce has also been convicted four times for open gross lewdness between 1995 and 2000. He is on the state Sex Offender Registry as a Level 3 offender, meaning he is deemed at high risk to offend again.

David H. Erickson of Concord, Mr. Pierce’s lawyer for the breaking and entering and larceny charges, said a sexually dangerous person action from Jan. 4 was dismissed at the request of the state on May 31, the day of his release.

Can bans protect kids from attack?

7-16-2006 Massachusetts:

Residents of Hill Farm Estates in Shrewsbury were not pleased when they learned that a convicted sex offender had rented a room just outside their subdivision and near a school bus stop. They waged a campaign to force him out, police said, posting his picture on telephone poles, mailing him intimidating letters, and calling his boss -- a local contractor -- to cancel home improvement projects.

Shrewsbury Police Chief Wayne Sampson said the situation last year put him in the odd position of protecting a child molester who had already served a 1 1/2-year sentence.

``They went after him with such a vengeance we had to call a neighborhood meeting," he said. ``We had to be very proactive to prevent residents from becoming vigilantes. It was that serious."

The incident prompted Republican state Representative Karyn Polito, who lives in Shrewsbury, to file legislation that would stiffen penalties for sex offenses and impose ``predator-free zones" that would limit where offenders could live.

Meanwhile, Marlborough is considering an ordinance that would ban sex offenders from living in 95 percent of the city; it is one of several communities in the state considering such a measure .

The residency restrictions are promoted as a way to keep potential predators away from places where children gather, such as schools and playgrounds. But opponents -- including some police chiefs as well as advocates for victims -- say the restrictions could boomerang.

Appleton St. fire may have been set

8-24-2006 Massachusetts:

.Police are investigating whether someone targeted a sex offender by lighting his car on fire Sunday morning. Fire and police responded to 27A Appleton St., at 5:45 a.m. Sunday after a report of a Chevy Cavalier on fire in the rear of the building. Firefighters found the car fully engulfed and extinguished the fire.

Another car and vinyl siding on 27A Appleton St., was also damaged by the fire. Investigators found a cinder block resting on the driver's seat and a cap from a gas can near the building. Believing the fire was suspicious, police called the State Fire Marshall's Office to investigate.

The owner of the vehicle, Richard Bursey, who is registered as a Level 3 sex offender, told police he heard a crash and looked outside to find his car's hood on fire.

Bursey told police he has not had any recent conflicts with anyone. "It's under investigation. We are following up on a ..more.. : by Les Masterson/ Staff Writer