Saugus chief joins war vs. child sex predators

SAUGUS – Police Chief Domenic Dimella is joining the fight against sexual predators who victimize children.As a sign of his commitment, Dimella met recently with two key members of Protect Mass Children, a federally recognized non-profit organization established to protect children in Massachusetts from sex offenders through education and legislation.Joseph DiPietro, the group president and founder, and John Magulas, the vice president, outlined their program for the police chief and earned a vow of support from the Saugus Police Department.”District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett has made this a priority,” said Dimella. “He isn’t going to tolerate this kind of crime in Essex County.”Dimella said he anticipates being able to assist the organization through enforcement, public awareness and by testifying in favor of efforts to pass strong legislation meant to keep sexual predators behind bars.”As a police officer, I have seen first hand the pain that’s inflicted on children when they have been abused,” he said. “Children are our future and yet they can’t protect themselves and are vulnerable to the evil that exists in our society.”The police chief emphasized he shares the district attorney’s views on the matter and the need to make it a top priority. “I wanted to be involved in Protect Mass Children so we can call upon our Legislature to pass stricter laws regarding the abuse of children. We need to make sure there is a large price to be paid for abusing a child,” he said.Dimella said activity against sexual predators who target children was ramped up by state Rep. Donald Wong of Saugus, who has introduced a bill mandating long-term incarceration of convicted sex offenders.”If that legislation passes, down the road we may see funding for police to fight these crimes and the people who commit them,” said Dimella, adding he may be called to testify before the Legislature as Wong’s bill is debated.According to Protect Mass Children, in 2009 there were 33,910 children in Massachusetts confirmed as abused or neglected. Massachusetts makes up nearly 30 percent of confirmed cases of abuse and neglect nationally. Further, the number of children in Massachusetts reported as abused and neglected in 2008 increased by a rate of 13 children per day, the organization reported.