Level 3 Sex Offenders in Worcester Have More Than Doubled in Last 10 Years

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Monday, March 16, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocal Worcester Contributor

There are 179 registered Level 3 Sex Offenders living in Worcester. According to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board, these individuals are at high risk of reoffense and are a substantial danger to public safety.

“The potential tragedies out there are unpredictable,” said Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis. “It doesn’t just affect one person, or one family, it affects entire communities.”

Since 2005, the number of Level 3 offenders has more than doubled in Worcester. In 2005, the city was home to 71 level three offenders.

In response to why that number may have grown so substantially in the last ten years, Evangelidis said, "Perhaps the local law enforcement is being more vigilant and the court system could be reevaluating people higher to level three."

The ratio of number of residents in Worcester to the number of sex offenders is 1,020 to 1.

Zero Supervision for Level 3 Sex Offenders

In addition to the 179 level 3 sex offenders living in Worcester, an additional 30 level three offenders attend school or work in the city. 

In June 2014, the state of Massachusetts found that lifetime supervision for sex offenders was unconstitutional. Once a convicted sex offender serves his or her term prison term or finishes their supervised parole, the state no longer actively supervises these individuals.

“People wrap up their sentence, there’s no supervision, and they walk out scott-free. As a sheriff, I find that very disconcerting. I find it astonishing that we allow people to leave without any strings attached,” said Evangelidis.

Evangelidis believes the law needs to be changed to address the lack of supervision. Although it is beyond the scope of the Sheriff’s office, Evangelidis said he would support a GPS or ankle bracelet system for level 3 sex offenders.

“The one thing that is interesting is that these people are likely to offend. It is a very difficult condition to cure,” said Evangelidis. “There is no supervision unless they’re released to parole. With a GPS system, we can keep very tight supervision.”

Level 3 Sex Offenders Prolific in Certain Worcester Neighborhoods

The Main South area of Worcester has by far the most registered Level 3 sex offenders living within its neighborhoods. There are currently 44 level 3 offenders in the area. 

The Grafton Hill and Shrewsbury Street areas are home to 31 level 3 sex offenders, followed by the Greendale area with 27 sex offenders. 

Level 2 Sex Offenders

In 2013, the Registry Board made the list of Level 2 Sex Offenders in the state available to the public. 

There are currently 358 Level 2 Sex Offenders in Worcester. The city of Boston, with more than three times the population size of Worcester, has only 342 registered level 2 sex offenders.

A Level 2 sex offender is determined by the Board that the risk of reoffense is moderate and the degree of dangerousness posed to the public is limited.

Level 1 Sex Offenders Numbers Possibly Growing in Worcester

Sheriff Evangelidis did make note of the potential upward trend of Level 1 sex offenders. He marks that possibility to teenagers and technology. Evangelidis thinks the lack of knowledge of the law has created this rise in sexual offenders.

“There have been and will continue to be things like ‘sexting’ and sharing pictures and things online. So many young people don’t understand criminal behavior,” said Evangelidis.

The Sex Offender Registry Board considers the risk of reoffense by a Level 1 sex offender to below and the degree of dangerousness posed to the public is limited at best.

Information on Level 1 offenders is not be available to the public. Neither the police nor the Board have authority to disseminate information to the general public identifying a Level 1 offender.

According to the Registry Board, “Information identifying Level 1 offenders may only be given to the Department of Correction, any county correctional facility, the Department of Youth Services, the Department of Social Services, the Parole Board, the Department of Probation and the Department of Mental Health, all city and town police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for law enforcement purposes.”

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• Worcester Sex Offenders Migrating To Main South
• Leonardo Angiulo: Spotlight on the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board
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