Author:
Duplicate Dawg
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Date Posted: 17:48 06/29/09 Mon
(Published in, Lowell Sun, 6-23-09. DAWG NOTE: The Lowell Sun reported an Alfred Goodwin, 47, of 456 Broadway Road in Dracut while the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry listed a Ralph W. Goodwin, 48, at the exact same address. Which one is it? It’s highly unlikely that these two are brothers in their late-40's, both living at the same street address and both convicted sex offenders. It should be noted that Ralph W. Goodwin is no longer listed on the State Sex Offender Registry website for Level 3 violators. It wouldn’t exactly shock me that the Lowell Sun screwed up and referred to this guy as Alfred, but I don’t know that for sure.)
Dracut sex offender on probation, but with no conditions
By Lisa Redmond
lredmond@lowellsun.com
LOWELL -- When a jury ruled that Alfred Goodwin was no longer a sexually dangerous person earlier this month and released him after nearly 19 years in custody for kidnapping and raping a 7-year-old Lowell boy, a red flag went up for Probation Officer Michael Checkman.
"When he was sentenced in 1990 for kidnapping and raping a 7-year-old, there were no conditions on his 10-year probation,'' Checkman said in Lowell Superior Court this week.
Goodwin was sentenced in 1990 and upon what would have been his release in 2005, he was deemed to be a sexually dangerous person. At a trial earlier this month, despite conflicting testimony from psychologists about his sexual dangerousness, a jury ruled Goodwin, a Level 3 sex offender, is not sexually dangerous and released him from custody.
Although he is released back into the community, Goodwin is still on probation for 10 years based on his original sentence.
Chelmsford resident Laurie Myers, of the victim-rights group Community Voices, said "I'm disappointed that Mr. Goodwin was released from prison without stricter probation conditions. His actions prove he's a danger and the courts must do everything within its power to monitor his behavior during his probation.''
The only condition placed on the 47-year-old Dracut man as part of his original sentence is that he seek mental-health treatment. For some unknown reason, the standard conditions of no contact with the victim and no contact with children under 16 were not there, Checkman said.
Judge Paul Chernoff agreed to prohibit Goodwin, who is listed as living at 456 Broadway Road, from contacting the victim and to have no contact with children under 16, but balked at Checkman's request that Goodwin wear a GPS ankle monitoring bracelet which tracks his location at all times.
Defense attorney Jeannine Mercure, who represents Goodwin, argued that the Probation Department is seeking to impose additional conditions when "there has been a lot of water under the bridge.''
Myers, who attended Goodwin's probation hearing this week, said, "As a citizen, I'm concerned that the judge refused the state's request for GPS monitoring. Given the heinousness of the crimes we should be using every tool available to make sure another child doesn't fall victim to this sex offender.''
Chernoff agreed to a July 8 date to continue the probation hearing.
According to published reports, Goodwin, who lived in Lowell nearly two decades ago, abducted a 7-year-old boy while the boy's father attended a meeting at a Lowell civic club. The boy was playing hide-and-seek with a friend inside the civic club in Lowell on Feb. 3, 1990.
A short time later, the boy's father realized his son had disappeared, and police were called. Police and friends searched for the boy without success.
Goodwin held the boy captive overnight, walking around the city with him, then releasing him the following day, a Sunday afternoon, at a Lowell telephone booth.
Goodwin smuggled the boy into his home through a cellar window. Once inside, Goodwin raped the boy more than once.
At about 3 p.m., the next day, Goodwin smuggled the boy out of his home by hiding him in a cardboard box.
Goodwin then took the boy to a Lowell phone booth, called a taxi for him and left. The cab driver took the boy home.
In September 1990, Goodwin, whom the prosecutor called "a menace,'' was sentenced to serve 10 to 15 years in state prison, followed by 10 years probation, after pleading guilty to three counts of aggravated rape and one charge of kidnapping.
In 1984, the district attorney's office investigated charges that Goodwin had allegedly raped two neighborhood boys, but no charges were brought because one of the victims would have had difficulty on the stand, according to published reports.
Then in 1988, the DA's office again investigated charges that Goodwin had raped two neighborhood girls, but the girls' mother refused to allow them to testify.
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