Porter receiving care at Shattuck

James R. Porter, the former Catholic priest and convicted pedophile, is being treated for an undisclosed illness in the corrections unit of the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, correction officials said. Porter was brought to the hospital for treatment at least four days ago from the Massachusetts Treatment Center for sexual predators in Bridgewater, a correction department official said. Porter was incarcerated at Bridgewater pending a civil trial on whether his convictions for molesting dozens of children in the 1960s while a priest assigned to the Fall River diocese should keep him behind bars for the rest of his life. Shattuck Hospital would not disclose Porter's condition when reached by phone last night.

NEW BEDFORD

Chat room visitor charged with rape

A 34-year-old Falmouth man was arrested on charges that he raped a New Bedford teen after arranging to meet him through an Internet chat room, authorities said yesterday. New Bedford police said that Theodore Dickerson lied about his age, telling the teen they were the same age, and later raped him during an encounter he set up. After Dickerson allegedly threatened the teen, the two met a second time. A school resource officer brought the alleged assault to the attention of the department's Sexual Assault Unit, triggering an undercover operation that led police to Dickerson. He was charged with rape of a child under the age of 16, indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 years old, and three counts of enticing a child under the age of 16.

EASTON

DSS probes mother's home after party

The state Department of Social Services has launched an investigation of the home where an allegedly drunk mother slept upstairs while a group of teenagers -- including a 13-year-old girl who drank herself unconscious -- held a party downstairs Saturday night, a spokeswoman said. "We opened up a 10-day investigation on Monday," DSS spokeswoman Denise Monteiro said. A second 13-year-old girl was also hospitalized for alcohol consumption after the party, and the homeowner, 44-year-old Patricia Annand, has been charged with providing alcohol to minors, police said.

MASSACHUSETTS

Highways to get more sound barriers

Acknowledging the frustrations of residents who live near highways, the Romney administration yesterday announced it will erect more sound barriers. At least two sound barriers will be advertised for construction each year. The cost of building more than 50 barriers on a priority list is estimated at more than $100 million. MassHighway is examining the feasibility of sound barrier projects on the waiting list to determine which ones will advance. In June, three dozen Lexington, Bedford, Billerica, and Chelmsford residents stormed the governor's office, demanding to learn why the administration refuses to install barriers called for by law along a widened Route 3.

LOWELL

Moose sighted near highway is killed

State Environmental police shot and killed a moose early yesterday because it was near Route 3A and a residential neighborhood, said Jennifer Flagg, an environmental police spokeswoman. The 800-pound male moose was first spotted about 9 a.m. standing roughly 50 yards from the highway; and three hours later, it had not moved from the area. Environmental police were concerned the moose might run into traffic and decided to euthanize it as opposed to tranquilizing it, Flagg said, because the animals tend to run when hit with a tranquilizer. No one was injured, and traffic was not disturbed, she said.

PLYMOUTH

Gator found loose in bird-keeper's yard

Steven Rogers is known in town for his exotic collection of animals, but says he was taken aback when he went outside to feed his peacocks and found a 3-foot alligator relaxing alongside several cages in his backyard Sunday afternoon. Massachusetts Environmental Police removed the reptile Monday, after receiving a call from Rogers, and said yesterday it is unclear how the gator wound up there. Although it is illegal to have alligators as pets in Massachusetts, Jennifer Flagg, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, said most reports of alligators are those freed by people who illegally own them and become unable to care for them. Rogers thinks someone dumped the gator in his backyard because of his reputation for enjoying exotic animals.