Cops Upset Over $1,000 Bail Set for Child Rapist

By JESSICA FARGEN

New Bedford police said they were disappointed in a judge for setting a $1,000 bail on a homeless child rapist who has repeatedly failed to register as a Level 3 sex offender and has a rap sheet “10 feet long.”

Thurston Allen, 36, who was convicted in 1996 of rape of a child with force and in 1994 of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older, was arraigned in New Bedford on Thursday after he was busted following a foot chase and struggle.

It was the third time in the past four years Allen was arrested for failure to register as a sex offender.

New Bedford Police Lt. Jeffrey Silva called the actions of Judge Bernadette Sabra “disappointing.”

“Why she opted to set bail at $1,000 on a violent career criminal and a Level 3 child rapist is a mystery to all of us,” he said.

Sabra defended her decision. “I felt ($1,000) was sufficient to ensure he would be brought back. I was told he was homeless. I felt it was unlikely he would make that bail,” she said in a phone interview yesterday.

“On the record, I put that he did have a record of convictions,” said Sabra, presiding justice of New Bedford District Court.

Allen is being held in the Dartmouth House of Correction.

On Sept. 6, Allen was arrested for domestic assault and battery and released on personal recognizance, cops said. On Thursday, Bristol District Attorney Sam Sutter’s office sought to have the order of personal recognizance revoked because Allen failed to register while out on bail, said spokesman Gregg Miliote.

When that was denied, the prosecutor requested $5,000 bail. Bail was set at $1,000.

Miliote declined comment on the judge’s decision, but said: “What our prosecutors did, we believe, was in the best interest of the public.”

Allen’s attorney could not be reached.

Originally published by By JESSICA FARGEN.

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