CITIZENS   FOR  LIMITED  TAXATION
and the
Citizens Economic Research Foundation

 

CLT UPDATE
Monday, March 17, 2003

Freedom for Gerry Amirault again denied


Reversing its own recommendation 13 months ago that convicted child rapist Gerald "Tooky" Amirault be freed from prison, the state Parole Board unanimously recommended yesterday that Gov. Mitt Romney deny Amirault's new petition for commutation.

Romney accepted the board's recommendation and denied the petition.

The Boston Herald
Mar. 15, 2003
Amirault bid for release rejected


Despite the setback, Amirault's attorney, James L. Sultan Jr., predicted that Amirault will prevail before the State Parole Board this fall and will be freed 17 years after he was convicted of raping and sexually molesting nine children at the family-run Malden school.

But when he appears before the Parole Board, Amirault will not admit any wrongdoing. "He's never going to admit guilt," Sultan said of Amirault, the last of his family still behind bars. "I'm completely confident he will be paroled this fall."

The Boston Globe
Mar. 15, 2003
Amirault loses plea for commutation


Barbara Anderson's CLT Commentary

We are of course disappointed in last week's decision of the Advisory Board of Pardons to not recommend commutation of Gerald Amirault's sentence at this time, but Governor Romney's office was kind enough to contact us about the opinion and we can see the rationale: the hearing process could take longer than the coming parole board recommendation that could free him late this fall.

The problem is not so much an additional nine months in jail for a crime Gerald didn't commit, but the 18 years that the Amirault family has already suffered for a crime that didn't even happen. We can only look forward to a quick recommendation for parole when the time is technically correct; it is too late to expect justice, the concept of which can never be applied to this horrible case.

I did write to the Governor but, unlike Governor Swift's cowardly decision to ignore the recommendation of the Advisory Board for commutation last February, this was not his call and he had no real options. We appreciate the Administration's faxing us the opinion.

CLT will continue to deplore the use of taxpayer dollars to continue this assault on Justice and common sense. Thanks to those CLT activists who have cared about this case. If any have doubts, we recommend the just-available book by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Dorothy Rabinowitz: "No Crueler Tyrannies: Accusation, False Witness, and Other Terrors of Our Times." Chip got mine at Amazon.com.

Barbara Anderson --


The Boston Herald
Saturday, March 15, 2003

Amirault bid for release rejected
by David Weber

Reversing its own recommendation 13 months ago that convicted child rapist Gerald "Tooky" Amirault be freed from prison, the state Parole Board unanimously recommended yesterday that Gov. Mitt Romney deny Amirault's new petition for commutation.

Romney accepted the board's recommendation and denied the petition.

In the written opinion sent to Romney, the Parole Board members said Amirault, 49, becomes eligible for parole from his 30-to-40-year prison sentence in December and already is scheduled for a hearing in October.

The board said Amirault's "compelling need has been substantially diminished (by the upcoming hearing) and therefore, the rationale to recommend the extraordinary remedy of executive clemency is no longer present."

Amirault was convicted in 1986 of raping and molesting children at the family-run Fells Acres day care center in Malden.

In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, Romney said, "In light of Mr. Amirault's approaching parole eligibility date, and the fact that he will receive a parole hearing before the commutation process can likely be completed, I have decided to accept the board's unanimous recommendation."

Amirault's attorney, James Sultan, said he was disappointed by the bureaucratic nature of the board's latest decision in the controversial Fells Acres Day Care case.

"Gerald Amirault is an innocent man who has already served 17 years in prison for crimes he didn't commit. Each day he remains behind bars adds to the terrible injustice which he and his family have suffered. He should have been released long ago," Sultan said.

On July 6, 2001, the Parole Board voted 5-0 to recommend that Amirault's sentence be commuted. The board's primary reason for its vote to commute was that Gerald Amirault's sentence was unfair in comparison to the 8-to-20-year sentences received by his mother, Violet Amirault, and sister, Cheryl Amirault LeFave, who also were convicted of child rape and abuse charges in the Fells Acres case.

In the 2001 recommendation, three of the five voting members also expressed doubt about the validity of the child victims' testimony against Gerald Amirault: "It is clearly a matter of public knowledge that, at a minimum, real and substantial doubt exists concerning (his) conviction."

But in February 2002, acting Gov. Jane Swift disregarded the Parole Board recommendation and denied Amirault's commutation petition, saying she felt Amirault, who has maintained his innocence, had not done enough to rehabilitate himself.

Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, whose office prosecuted the Fells Acres case, repeatedly has pointed out that the Supreme Judicial Court upheld Amirault's conviction twice and that each succeeding legal maneuver by Amirault reopens painful wounds for the victims.

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The Boston Globe
Saturday, March 15, 2003

Amirault loses plea for commutation
By John Ellement, Globe Staff

In a move that keeps Governor Mitt Romney from becoming entangled in the notorious Fells Acres Day School case, the Advisory Board of Pardons said yesterday that the prison sentence of convicted child molester Gerald Amirault should not be commuted and Amirault should seek freedom through a standard parole hearing later this year.

Despite the setback, Amirault's attorney, James L. Sultan Jr., predicted that Amirault will prevail before the State Parole Board this fall and will be freed 17 years after he was convicted of raping and sexually molesting nine children at the family-run Malden school.

But when he appears before the Parole Board, Amirault will not admit any wrongdoing. "He's never going to admit guilt," Sultan said of Amirault, the last of his family still behind bars. "I'm completely confident he will be paroled this fall."

In a statement, Romney said he would abide by the board's decision: "I have said in reviewing the Amirault case that I would seriously consider the views of the Advisory Board of Pardons. In accordance with their regulations, the Board has unanimously voted to deny Gerald Amirault's commutation petition because of the closeness of his parole eligibility date. In light of Mr. Amirault's approaching parole eligibility date, and the fact that he will receive a parole hearing before the commutation process can be completed, I have decided to accept the Board's unanimous recommendation."

Amirault will be eligible for parole in December.

Amirault, along with his mother, Violet, and his sister, Cheryl, were convicted following a highly publicized investigation by the Middlesex district attorney's office. His mother and sister were released from prison in 1995. Violet Amirault died in 1997.

The Amirault trials, during which child witnesses described talking robots and the public torture of animals, contributed to a national debate about the reliability of testimony from children, and the prosecution of sexual abuse of children.

Even if Gerald Amirault is paroled, a state law could slow, or even prevent, his release. Under the sexually dangerous person law, prosecutors can seek to have inmates being freed from prison after serving sentences for sex crimes committed to a special hospital for an undetermined length of time, including life.

The request that Amirault be designated a sexually dangerous person would have to come from the Middlesex district attorney's office. Yesterday, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Martha Coakley said it was premature to speculate as to whether a request would be made to designate Amirault as a sexually dangerous person.

If Coakley moves for such a designation, Sultan said he wants Amirault released on bail. "As long as Gerald Amirault is home with his family, we would welcome the opportunity to retry this case in 2003," Sultan said.

Sultan's confidence in the parole board would seem warranted. In 2001, the Parole Board - acting, as it did yesterday, in its dual role as the Advisory Board of Pardons - voted 6-0 to commute Amirault's sentence, but former acting governor Jane Swift rejected the recommendation.

The parole board's makeup has since changed, but the three strongest advocates for Amirault's release - who concluded that "real and substantial doubt exists" about his guilt - remain.

A fourth advocate for his release, Maureen E. Walsh, is now chairwoman of the six-person panel.

"I have no reason to believe that the board will take a different position," Sultan said.

The father of one of the victims, Paul Bennett, said yesterday that both he and his daughter will speak against Amirault's release unless Amirault apologizes and admits his crimes.

"If he comes before the Parole Board and admits guilt, we want an apology to the victims from him. If he does this, then we will most likely, or probably, just let the Parole Board, as professionals, handle it within the system," Bennett said in a telephone interview. "If he does not admit guilt ... then we will definitely put up a strong defense against him getting paroled."

But Bennett, who testified against Amirault at the 2000 commutation hearing, acknowledged that Amirault may be paroled nonetheless.

"We know he still could get out. When [the board] makes their decision, it's going to have to be something they have to live with - especially if they make the wrong decision," he said. "The parole board is made up of pretty sharp people. I don't think they will make the wrong decision."

Neither state law nor board history mandates that an inmate admit guilt in order to be released. The Supreme Judicial Court has also ruled that an admission of guilt is not required for parole.

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