Massachusetts judges and juries released 37 of 60 convicted sex offenders between July 2006 and June 2007 over the objections of prosecutors who said they were too dangerous to set free, according to court records.
The rate of sex offenders released is in sharp contrast to the outrage expressed yesterday by police and prosecutors after the arrest of a sex offender who allegedly raped a 6-year-old boy in a New Bedford library.
A judge released Corey Saunders in 2006, even though prosecutors and two court-appointed psychologists had argued that he posed a threat to children.
"It certainly disturbs me when people the court has had an opportunity to hold [are released] instead, and they commit additional crimes," said Michael O'Keefe, district attorney for the Cape and Islands and president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association.
When a convicted sex offender is about to be released after serving a prison sentence, prosecutors are automatically notified. If they think the offender is a risk to commit a new crime, they can recommend that a judge or jury send the offender to the state facility in Bridgewater reserved for men declared to be sexually dangerous.
The trial process requires at least three independent psychologists to review the case, and for a judge or jury - the defendant or his lawyers get to decide how they want the case tried - to agree that the offender poses a danger to commit a new crime.
On Wednesday, police say, Saunders, 26, raped a 6-year-old boy within the tall bookshelves of a downtown library, just a few feet away from the child's unsuspecting mother.
Saunders, who had been living in a homeless shelter, was released from the Bridgewater center in December 2006 over the objections of the Bristol district attorney at the time, Paul F. Walsh Jr., as well as three psychologists who warned Superior Court Judge Richard Moses that he was a threat to children.
In his ruling, Moses, who has also ruled in favor of releasing two other sex offenders whom prosecutors wanted to commit to the Bridgewater facility, said there was not enough evidence that Saunders would commit another sex crime.
Between 2004 and 2007, judges and juries released more than half of the 181 sex offenders prosecutors and psychological specialists believed were still sexually dangerous, according to the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association.
Yesterday, a Middlesex County judge freed a convicted pedophile who had repeatedly raped a child, even though prosecutors sought his commitment at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater.
Middlesex Superior Court Judge Bonnie MacLeod-Mancuso ordered the release of Andrew Berg, who in 1998 was convicted of sexually assaulting and raping his girlfriend's daughter from 1989 to 1993.
Five specialists testified yesterday that Berg is a pedophile, but disagreed on whether he could control those impulses.
MacLeod-Mancuso said she was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Berg should remain in custody.
"We are obviously disappointed in this decision," Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said in a written statement.
"We believe that Andrew Berg is a sexually dangerous person who should not be allowed back into the community," Leone added.
"We believe he is likely to engage in further sex offenses if he is not confined to a secure facility that would help assure the health and safety of the citizens of this Commonwealth."
O'Keefe said it is frustrating to see convicted sex offenders released, especially since the felons prosecutors bring to trial make up a small percentage of the hundreds of cases that are referred to them each year.
"They're the worst of the worst," he said. "In our view, that relatively small percentage should continue to be held, because in our judgment and the judgment of at least one shrink or several shrinks, is that these people are going to reoffend and it's just a matter of time."
But defense attorneys and prison advocates said it is impossible to predict whether a sex offender will commit a new crime.
"This law, to lock up these folks on the notion that they are sexually dangerous, is a complete fraud on the public," said Michael Farrington, who was Saunders's lawyer during the trial on whether to commit him to Bridgewater. "It calls for a judge or a jury to speculate on what someone is going to do in the future."
Many sex offenders will not commit a new offense if they undergo thorough psychological treatment, said Dr. Fabian Saleh, founder and director of the Sexual Disorders Clinic at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
"Pedophilic sex offenders, if they get proper treatment, their sexual recidivism rate over 15 years can be decreased," Saleh said.
Intensive behavioral and cognitive therapy can help pedophiles confront their condition, he said, and reverse their distorted ideas about children.
For example, he said, a pedophile may see a young child wearing a bathing suit and believe the child is purposely trying to be seductive.
Treatment, Saleh said, can reduce the chance of committing a new sex crime from 60 to 70 percent to 1 to 3 percent.
Pedophiles should also receive testosterone-lowering medication that suppresses symptoms of pedophilia, such as fantasizing about children, he said.
They also need a relative or friend they can call if they are tempted to prey on a child, Saleh said.
"What they often need to do is have a support system in place," he said. "Talk therapy alone won't do it."
Meg Woolhouse of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com; John Ellement at ellement@globe.com.
