LYNN — A Level 3 sex offender admitted failing to register on time when he bought a house near Shoemaker Elementary School, but neighbors and city officials said they are upset a judge allowed the man to avoid jail time.
“We were hoping for jail time,” neighbor Julie Potter said outside a courtroom Thursday at Lynn District Court. “You get that status as a Level 3 sex offender because you’re a habitual offender risk.”
Richard Galzerano, 58, was convicted in 2008 of trying to entice a 14-year-old boy into his car in Revere.
Galzerano came under scrutiny after Ward 1 parents discovered he bought a home to live in and renovate near the Shoemaker Elementary School and Gowdy Park in September 2011.
A subsequent investigation determined Galzerano was in violation of the city’s sex offender ordinance, which prohibits Level 3 offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds or parks. He stopped living in the city last January, and his attorney, Alfred Saggese, said Thursday that Galzerano is now living in Peabody.
View a map of registered sex offedners in Lynn compared to schools and parks. Click on each dot for more information.
Neighbors outside the courtroom, however, said Galzerano still spends almost every day renovating the Daytona Road home, arriving early in the morning and often leaving several hours after dark.
“He’s there when I leave (for work); there when I come back,” said neighbor Erika O’Neill.
Prosecutors charged Galzerano with failing to properly register as a sex offender when he moved from Winthrop to the city. The Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Law requires all sex offenders to register their current and new home and work addresses at least 10 days prior to moving to a different city in Massachusetts.
The case went to trial before a Lynn District Court judge Thursday.
Assistant District Attorney Susan Dolhun told the court Galzerano did not properly notify Winthrop he was leaving the town. Nor did he notify Lynn he was moving to the city in September 2011.
She said Galzerano lived at the house as soon as he bought it but did not attempt to register as a sex offender with Lynn Police until November. Yet she said he had previously registered as a sex offender and indicated that he understood the registration requirements.
“It was a small window of time, but we nevertheless think it’s clear the defendant knew and shirked his responsibility to register as a sex offender,” Dolhun told the court. “Neighbors feel strongly about the case, feel strongly about the community, some individuals have small children and were shocked and upset he was living in the community, and had shirked responsibility to register as a level 3 sex offender.”
She noted that Galzerano had served time for assault and battery, and recommended Galzerano receive a sentence of two years in jail with six months to be served and lifetime parole.
Saggese told the judge that Galzerano did “shirk his responsibility,” but he characterized his failure to register as “somewhat of a technicality or a bookkeeping error.”
“This was not one of those cases where he was trying to flee the community or move into a community without people knowing,” Saggese said. There was nothing surreptitious about it – he bought the house in his own name, and he made an attempt to go to the police department, albeit too late, judge, albeit too late.”
He requested the case be continued without a finding for six months.
Judge Ellen Flatley rejected that agreement, saying it was inappropriate for a person convicted of “assaultive behavior.” She also rejected lifetime parole; but issued a sentence of one year in jail, to be suspended after he successfully completes 18 months of probation.
Neighbors outside the courtroom said they were disappointed.
“It’s not over with; he’s still there every day,” Sullivan said.
O’Neill said residents would maintain their vigilance – both watching children and communicating with other parents whenever a child was outside, as well as noting Galzerano’s hours at the home.
City Council President and Ward 1 resident Timothy Phelan said the sentence was “a little discouraging.”
“It seems to take the teeth out of the state law; and getting a sentence like that doesn’t really seem like the existing law would act as a deterrent,” Phelan said Thursday afternoon. “They’ll put Martha Stewart in jail for a year for insider trading but slap somebody on the wrist for engaging in the activity in which this man was engaging?”
Asked what the city could do in response to the sentence, Phelan said the city was involved in a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union over Galzerano’s case and would continue to defend its sex-offender ordinance. He also noted that Galzerano no longer lived in the city.
Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi also said there was not a lot the city could do to change the sentence. But he also defended the sex-offender ordinance.
“What positive we do get out of this is certainly the ordinance is working and the neighborhood is aware,” Lozzi said. “The neighbors know who he is, and it is a form of protection or safety that people are aware and can certainly keep a close eye on him – and make sure he isn’t sleeping there.”
Galzerano immediately left the courtroom after the hearing and Saggese could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].
