Mass. bail system under fire
Bristol DA: Sex offender case shows reform need
The release of a Level 3 sex offender on personal recognizance after allegedly soliciting young boys for sex has police and prosecutors railing against the state’s bail system in the latest cry for “common sense” reforms.
“This guy should be off the street and held without bail,” Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn said of George Souza, charged with enticing a child under 16 and four counts of accosting in Fall
River.
“It’s a crystal clear example of why we need to change the bail statute,” Quinn told the Herald. “The public has a right to be protected from dangerous criminals. That’s the bottom line.”
Souza, 74, is accused of trying to lure a group of boys into a sexual act July 24 at a Fall River soup kitchen, according to a police report.
“The victims ran from the area and headed to the Fall River Public Library where they contacted the police and to be visible to the public on a main road if they needed help,” the police report states.
The boys, police added, “wanted to get away from (Souza) as fast as they could.”
Police soon caught up to Souza and arrested him.
The DA’s office said they requested $20,000 bail, but Fall River District Court Judge Cynthia Brackett set Souza free on personal recognizance with a few conditions, including reporting to probation once a week and not having contact with children under 16.
Brackett was “unable to comment on a pending matter,” a trial court spokeswoman said.
Souza was civilly committed until 2015, when he was no longer deemed sexually dangerous, according to the state Department of Correction. He had been locked up for a 1971 rape of a 14-year-old girl in New York and the indecent assault of a 9-yearold boy from Fall River in 1990, according to court records.
Fall River police Sgt. J.T. Hoar told the Herald he’s “concerned” Souza is back on the street.
‘It’s a crystal clear example of why we need to change the bail statute.’
— THOMAS QUINN, Bristol district attorney
“I don’t know why he’s out,” Hoar said. “It’s the climate we’re in.”
Gov. Charlie Baker said this week he’s crafting a bail reform bill to take a criminal’s past history into consideration.
The governor’s move comes as recent bail decisions are coming under fire — including dropping bail from $35,000 to $1,000 for Mickey Rivera, the Fall River man who later caused last weekend’s head-on crash that killed a U.S. Marine combat veteran who had just left his wife and newborn daughter at Cape Cod Hospital.
Quinn called the Souza arrest “a poster case for bail reform,” that he said he’s been backing for a long time.
“This stuff is going on every day,” he added. “What (Souza) allegedly did was despicable and chilling.”