Pedophile, 54, who repeatedly raped 12-year-old to be freed from Massachusetts jail to save him from coronavirus
BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS: A pedophile jailed for repeatedly raping a 12-year-old boy has been ordered released to keep him safe from the coronavirus.
Glenn Christie, who uses a wheelchair, was ordered released from jail as he suffers from several health conditions, including hypothyroidism and possible thyroid cancer, kidney disease and spinal stenosis, which can make him vulnerable to the virus.
The 54-year-old was held in the Massachusetts Treatment Center when the Superior Court Judge Heidi Brieger ordered his release on Friday, April 3. WBUR reported that one of the condition is that Christie tests negative for COVID-19, as one of his former cellmates died from the infection.
The criminal was convicted of rape and indecent assault on a child under 14 and was confined at the MTC for violating his probation conditions. Christie’s attorney, David Rangaviz, who filed motions in his case weeks ago, has argued that it’s impossible to prevent the spread of coronavirus in jails and prisons.
“I wish I wasn’t right. This was a foreseeable disaster if anyone cared enough to start acting quickly,” Rangaviz told the radio station.
According to reports, Christie was on a 10-year probation period after completing a prison term for the repeated rapes of the minor boy that took place in the city of Lynn.
Last fall, he was ordered to return to state prison for one to two years. But his advocate challenged the order and requested to delay or "stay" the probation violation sentence, which was denied earlier this year.
However, on 1 April, the Supreme Judicial Court, citing coronavirus pandemic ordered the judge to take another look at Christie's appeal. “The health risks to a person in custody caused by the pandemic constitute changed circumstances,” Chief Justice Ralph Gants wrote, entitling Christie to a new hearing.
“We also conclude that, in conducting that (new) review, a judge must give careful consideration not only to the risks posed by releasing the defendant –- flight, danger to others or to the community, and the likelihood of further criminal acts -- but also, during this pandemic, to the risk that the defendant might die or become seriously ill if kept in custody,” Gants added.
“Mr. Christie was ordered released this morning by the Superior Court! There are so many move lives to save, but it is an unbelievable relief to get him released while it appears he may have dodged this ongoing outbreak in his facility,” Christie’s lawyer Rangaviz tweeted after the order.
In addition to Christie, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has also ruled that pretrial detainees who have not been charged with certain violent offenses and those held on technical probation and parole violations can be released from state jails and prisons to stop the spread of the pandemic.
In its 45-page ruling, the court stated: “We agree that the situation is urgent and unprecedented and that a reduction in the number of people held in custody is necessary.
“We also agree with the Attorney General and the district attorneys that the process of reduction requires individualized determinations, on an expedited basis, and in order to achieve the fastest possible reduction, should focus first on those who are detained pretrial who have not been charged with committing violent crimes."