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David Scondras charges police brutality in lawsuit over 2006 teen-sex arrest
By adamg on Sat, 10/03/2009 - 10:58pm
Former Boston City Councilor David Scondras is suing the city of Lawrence, several police officers and the security guard he thought was a 15-year-old looking for sex, charging them with cruel and unusual punishment and assault and battery and seeking unspecified damages.
The suit, filed in US District Court in Boston, alleges that when Scondras drove up to Lawrence to consumate a relationship started in an AOL chatroom, he instead found himself thrown to the ground, with a gun to his head, called a "faggot" who didn't belong in Lawrence and beaten savagely by Lawrence cops, including the father of the "15 year old," who turned out to be a 20-year-old security guard - and whom Scondras charges also took part in the beating.
Scondras says the beating left him with multiple bruises and cuts and a brain injury that required surgery.
In his complaint, Scondras acknowledges exchanging numerous "sexually explicit" messages in an AOL chatroom geared toward gay men with an individual who stated he was 15. Scondras eventually provided his cell-phone number, which the "teen" then called to arrange a meeting time and place in Lawrence. Scondras says he was unaware the guy had notified a Lawrence police officer about the AOL chat or that the officer was listening in on a speakerphone when the meeting place was arranged.
He charges that after he got out of his car in Lawrence parking lot, he was blinded by flashlights and:
... The Plaintiff was then violently thrown prone to the ground. He attempted to state that he could not lie in that position due to a prior heart attack. The Plaintiff was then struck hard in his head by an unknown object which drove his mouth into the ground hard enough to fracture a tooth;
The Plaintiff then felt the barrel of a pistol shoved into his head. Sergeant Shaffer called him a "fucking faggot" and threatened to kill him if he moved ...
Lawrence officials and police have yet to respond to the suit, which was only filed on Friday. However, following the 2006 arrest, the Globe reported:
Shafer tried to handcuff Scondras, who grabbed Shafer's Nextel phone and bolted, according to a police report. Shafer gave chase, grabbed Scondras's shirt, pulled him to the ground, and handcuffed him. In Scondras's car, police found a bottle of what appeared to be alcohol.
Scondras, who now lives in Cambridge, pleaded guilty in 2007 to a charge of child enticement. In 1996, he was savagely beaten in a Boston movie theater by a teenager who claimed Scondras started groping him.
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Comments
Why is it we keep hearing
Why is it we keep hearing from this one guy. This one guy keeps getting beat up by teenagers (real and fake) who he is trying to shack up with. Maybe he needs to just stop making the gay community look bad.
In 1996 he had an altercation with a 16 year old and in 2006 he tried with a "15" year old. I guess my question is if these were the two cases we know about how many other teenage boys above and below 16 (age of consent) has he had relations with. It is illegal for him to be trying to get it on with anyone under 16 and still very creepy to think about him going after the 16-18 set (heck after 18 for a 60 year old is still creepy creepy but at least at 18 they should have some sense on their shoulders.)
Eh, he's not making the gay community look bad
The straight community still produces waaaaay more sex offenders.
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Yeah but straight people do
Yeah but straight people do not imply that they are being mistreated due to their sexual orientation. This guy goes out there and says it is because he is gay that this happened. This happens because he is a pervy old man who tries to take advantage on young teenage boys on a regular basis, it would be just as bad if they were girls.
I'm guessing it's some of both
Yeah, clearly, most of the judgments being hurled at the guy are because he can't keep it in his pants with regards to children.
But he does have a point that the inappropriate treatment on the part of the cops involved homophobic slurs. And that he's gotten beaten twice by cops, both times involving homophobic slurs. I'd say that that part of the equation probably DOES have something to do with homophobia. We still need to respect human beings, even when they've done something we as a society have decided is not acceptable.
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Beaten twice by the cops?
I thought the first time he was beaten by the kid he tried to give a feel to.
And let's remember that we haven't formally heard from the cops yet on the second incident - so far all we have is Scondras's complaint alleging a beating.
Evidence versus Heresay
It should be pretty easy to determine if he was beaten or if he is lying about what happened this time, too. While Scondras himself isn't terribly credible, medical records are credible and this case will hinge on when he was treated and for what sort of injuries.
I find it odd that he's only now pressing this issue. I half wonder if his recent reemergence in the media has awakened a latent narcissism. Regardless, if there was brutality, it was not acceptable. Professionals need to be ... well ... professional, ya know? Not to mention the potential HIV risk of fighting/hitting any given person being arrested and the potential costs of that down the road should have local departments cracking down on stupidity. I suspect a solid review of medical treatment records will get this one sorted, either way.
It hard to have sympathy for
It hard to have sympathy for a guy who wants to have statutory sex with willing teenage boys.
But even if Scondras broke the law or was about to break the law, the police cannot use excessive force on his person to vent their anger about his intentions or his sexuality. It's up to the justice system not vigilantes in the police department or elsewhere to administer justice.
That said, it's going to be hard for Scondras to get a sympathetic jury. Can he get a civil trial without a jury?
http://www.ageofconsent.com/massachusetts.htm
gave him a beating
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A jury should be able to
A jury should be able to separate the crime he committed, and the crime that was committed against him. He probably should win a financial settlement for the police action, and have the officers in question be disciplined or fired, which he can enjoy from jail. *
*Assuming all parties are guilty of the charges brought against them.
I guess I am skeptical
I guess I am skeptical because this is the second time he was beaten up for this sort of thing. Does it not seem odd that the guy was beaten down twice in ten years? Also it sounds like he had some alchohol with him. Lastly the guy can not really be in his right mind right mind, we just saw that story about him throwing a BBQ and inviting politicians to it using a Cambridge City Council Candidate as the name of someone attending when she was not.
So yes he should have his day in court but I wonder how much of that evening was him kicking and screaming and throwing punches about being arrested and how much of it actually happened.
Does it not seem odd that
No. I think he'll be given a beating by outraged policemen anytime he's caught in the act of breaking the law by soliciting sex with a minor.
They are right to arrest him. They are wrong to beat him.
Thats what I am saying, it
Thats what I am saying, it is ODD for someone to be beaten down twice in a decade "for no reason"
A friend of mine used to
A friend of mine used to always refer to him as "Opie." As in OpenlyGayCityCouncillorDavidScondras, as he was always referred to.
Anyhoo, it's hard to work up much sympathy for Opie anymore. This thing for young guys keeps popping up, and he tried to make a break for it when the cops arrested him this last time. I guess a jury will have extract the truth here. I'm just getting sick of him.
I hope this wasn't a contingent fee case
. . for the sake of the lawyer, although if a lawyer was dumb enough to take such a case on a contingent fee, I suppose they deserve not to get paid.
Personal injury cases
Personal injury cases usually are contingent fee, aren't they? 1/3 plus lawyer fees to the attorney and the remainder to the plaintiff.
Pathological
Last week he leaflets Cambridge's Area 4 with a BBQ invite that
includes his name, address, phone number, and signature.
Then tells www.townonline.com/cambridge that he has no idea how
a candidates name got on the leaflet--it must have been a staffer.
Three years ago he shows up at the the Lawrence hospital with
a bottle of vodka, marijuana, and a tube of lubricant. He's been
chatting with what he thinks is a fifteen year old online.
He pleads guilty to the felony of enticing a child under sixteen. And immediately claims victim
status.
My leaflets ruining a woman's candidacy? Not me, must have been
my staff. A fifteen year old boy, who knows me as "Topdadd"?
Must be the Lawrence police! Vodka and lubricant, doesn't
everyone go to Lawrence with that?
I hope the judge who sentenced him to probation rather than
jail time is feeling really good about this now.l