DA says Internet sex prosecutions go beyond words

2-11-2010 Massachusetts:

Despite a court decision overturning a conviction in a similar case, a district attorney whose office prosecuted four local men in a 2006 Internet sex sting said the operation could likely withstand legal challenge.

Led by the Plymouth County DA's office, the investigation led to 11 arrests of people who were accused of trying to arrange sex with minors online. They included men from Hudson, Medway, Uxbridge and Newton.

Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court ruled last Friday that state law does not specifically bar electronically sending sexually explicit text to minors.

The decision overturned the conviction of a Beverly man who had sexual online conversations and arranged to meet with an undercover Plymouth County deputy sheriff posing as a 13-year-old girl. He had been sentenced to a year in prison for attempting to disseminate harmful matter to a minor.

Plymouth County DA Timothy Cruz said while some cases in the other investigation also involved online conversations, many included photos, videos or other materials that are illegal to give to minors.

While defendants may still look to challenge portions of convictions after last week's ruling, certain charges and sex offender classifications should stand, Cruz said.

"I don't know how much it changes in the big picture of things," he said of the ruling. "Some people may want to try to remove this from their record, and they'd be successful if it is just text messages or online conversations or just electronically transmitted text itself."

Framingham defense attorney Joseph Leone said most prosecutions he has seen of such cases have been similar to the ones Cruz's office handled.

"Most of the cases that have been prosecuted thus far have dealt with something along the lines of pornography, photographs, videos, that sort of thing," Leone said.

Still, he said, given the advancement of technology and text messaging, that could change.

David Yas, editor-in-chief of Lawyers Weekly, told the Associated Press the ruling was "a classic case of a law that hasn't been properly updated."

While the state law bars sexually explicit handwritten material, the court found it did not specifically address electronic communication.

"Right now, as a result of this decision, you can type in your computer these things with impunity, but you can't write it with pencil or pen," Cruz said.

State legislators moved this week to close the loophole.

Most local people charged in the Plymouth County operation are on probation, with some facing the possibility of having charges dropped if they do not commit any crimes.

Salvatore LaRiccia of Medway received a suspended jail sentence and was placed on probation after pleading guilty in 2007 to eight counts of attempting to commit a crime.

Eight charges against Lawrence Langone of Uxbridge were continued without finding in 2008. He was placed on probation with a number of conditions, such as GPS monitoring, forfeiting computers and having no contact with children.

Charges against Matthew Coelho of Hudson also were continued without finding and are set to be dropped this year if he avoids further legal trouble. He also faces a number of court-ordered restrictions. ..Source.. David Riley/Daily News staff
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