Posted on 06/02/2006 7:52:19 PM PDT by DBeers
SALEM — An admitted pedophile convicted of molesting a 9-year-old boy he had befriended at a Methuen church was sentenced yesterday to the maximum term possible — nine to 10 years in state prison.
"He is the classic sexual predator," Salem Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead said of Kevin Curlew, 44. "He is the true danger to society."
Whitehead said the prison term was the only way to protect society. He also ordered Curlew to serve 10 years probation after his release, during which he will be barred from contact with anyone under 16, the victim and his family. He will also be required to take part in sex offender treatment.
Curlew, convicted Wednesday by a jury, insisted to the end that he had not been treated fairly, arguing with and lecturing Judge Howard Whitehead.
"You are bordering on charges right now," Curlew, who represented himself, complained to the judge. "I don't know what your problem is your honor but you are obviously compromised beyond redemption."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," the judge responded as court officers began moving Curlew out of the courtroom.
Curlew had volunteered to babysit children at the Mormon church he and the victim's mother both attended. The victim's family was particularly vulnerable because the boy's father had just left.
"He steps in as a father figure," said the judge. "He then grooms the young boy."
Prosecutor Maureen Wilson Leal, who had asked for the maximum sentence, said Curlew's behavior escalated over a period of months in 2004, from making the boy dance in his underwear to pulling down his pants to the final episode, when Curlew touched the boy's groin.
"Do we really know how far it could have gone?" Leal asked the judge — who later said he has little doubt that Curlew's abuse would have continued had the boy not spoken up.
"There is no question in my mind where it would have gone had it continued," Whitehead said, as Curlew wagged his finger and scowled at the judge.
Leal called the young victim, now 11, "courageous" for his willingness to take the stand and face cross-examination by Curlew.
And, Leal pointed to Curlew's history, which includes charges of molesting a 4-year-old boy in Maine in 1981 — as well as two other boys there.
She also noted Curlew's admission to inappropriate conduct with a child in Lowell, though that did not lead to criminal charges. And after the allegations in this case became public, an estranged relative of Curlew came forward to say that Curlew had sexually abused her as a child as well.
Curlew had become estranged from his sister after a fight, during which he allegedly tried to choke her, the prosecutor said.
As the prosecutor detailed Curlew's record, Curlew repeatedly interrupted her, as he later would interrupt the judge, to chastise her.
Repeatedly, Whitehead confronted Curlew with his taped confession.
"We're dealing with factors he cannot really verify," Curlew responded.
"All I'm asking is did you say that?" the judge asked again.
"I acknowledged the case," Curlew said, raising his voice. "Do not take it out of context, your honor."
The judge tried again: "Do you deny you made that statement to the Methuen police?"
"I deny the accuracy. It was never stipulated to by the defendant it was accurate....the law is clear," he said, misstating the law to the judge.
As Curlew continued complaining about the tape, the judge asked him what sentence he should receive.
Curlew called the prosecution's recommendation "outrageous" and then insisted, "We are talking about allegations unproven ... the tapes were not proven authentic."
"We've beaten this horse to death about the tapes," said the judge.
Curlew then changed his tune — pointing out that his detailed confession helped police. "Was I cooperative with them, yes, extensively so, almost to the point of doing their job for them."
But the judge pointed out that Curlew had been less than forthcoming about his past.
The boy's mother attended yesterday's sentencing, handing the judge a hand-written impact statement, which the judge read aloud.
"He still prayed for you, after all you said and did to him," the boy's mother said. "He thought you were his friend. It took a long time to explain that friends don't do that to one another."
She once believed Curlew, a fellow Mormon church member, shared her morals and love of God. "Then you whispered perverted things into my child's ear," she told him.
The abuse has changed her son, making him fearful and leaving her to wonder: "How is this going to affect him later on?"
That's a question the judge asked as well, saying he hopes that with the love and support of his mother and counselors he will break the cycle of abuse.
Curlew himself may have been a victim of sexual abuse as a child, after he was placed in a home for children with emotional difficulties. He told Methuen police that he had been raped then.
Sexual abuse, said the judge, "leaves an emotional scar that lasts a lifetime."
Does anyone else see a problem with the fact that Ken Lay may be serving the rest of his life behind bars, but this guy is only getting 9-10 years?
yes.
He's at the acne of his career. If he had not given him the max, I'd have called him a zit-for-brains!
9 to 10 years, probably out in 5.
I have no problem with Lay getting life.
This guy may not be so easily released as the climate for tolerance for predators is changing.
I'm surprised Massachusetts has that long a maximum sentence.
Actually, there probably was not a lot more time because there did not seem to be any penetration involved.
That's not the angle that I'm coming from on this, though. I don't have a problem with Lay doing decades, either. I do have a problem with this crime only having a max of 10 years, particularly given the recedivism rate.
Here's to the General Population of the Prison Having a Photo of this Pedarist; just to make his 9 - 10 years very interesting.
"Does anyone else see a problem with the fact that Ken Lay may be serving the rest of his life behind bars, but this guy is only getting 9-10 years?"
And Jim Baker was sent up for 44 years as well, and served 5, for over-booking his hotel. I know, he DESERVED more, but the sentance for what he was convicted of doing was wayyy outta line, and was reduced to 18, and he was released after 5.
The average murderer only serves 14 years in the USA.
Then again, a murderer has high status in prison, while a child molester needs to seek voluntary solitary confinement for his own safety.
Maybe he isn't tall enough to spend any more time in jail than that?
If I had the power, I would sentence him to death.
Yes, the recidivism rate is awful.
I wish there was a place...like an island-- they could chose to go to instead of prison..and just stay there! Kind of like australia used to be for criminals in its founding. Just put them all together away from the rest of the population....but where?
maybe sooner if he gets into the general population... we can only hope.
In a way, he's right.
Fair is every member of the community lining up to give him a good swift kick in the junk.
Classic pedophile move to get close to kids.
...months.
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