Convicted child rapist held indefinitely at treatment facility

By Russell Contreras, Globe Staff

A Lawrence Superior Court judge ruled today that Wayne Chapman was still sexually dangerous despite serving a 30-year prison term and ordered that the convicted child rapist remain in state custody indefinitely at a sexual abuse treatment facility.

Judge Howard Whitehead followed a provision in state law that allows people still deemed sexually dangerous to be civilly committed at a treatment facility for the rest of their lives. The ruling can be appealed annually.

Chapman, 59, was seeking to be released from state custody after finishing his sentence for the 1975 conviction of molesting two boys in Lawrence. Chapman had been convicted previously in child sex abuse cases in three other states.

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