May 10, 2007 -
Gregory J. Pathiakis, 27, a former Middleboro High School math teacher, who received a two year suspended jail sentence last year, has been ordered to serve the time for violating his probation. He was sentenced to two years in jail.
BACKGROUND: Pathiakis pleaded guilty to one count of rape of a child, enticement of a child under 16, five counts of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of harmful material to a child. The victim was a 15-year-old male student.
Pathiakis was forced to resign from a teaching position at Pope John XXIII High School in Everett in 2002 after just six weeks on the job, but never listed that job on his resume.Knowing all this, Judge Suzanne V. Delvecchio chose not to send him to jail, despite a plea from the prosecution.
He left that job after school officials at the Catholic school discovered he was asking students to e-mail homework to a Web site linked to offensive jokes.
Middleboro school officials said they were unaware he had worked in Everett. Because Pathiakis was forced to resign from a private rather than public school, his brief tenure in Everett was not listed with the state Department of Education.
A condition of his 2006 sentence was that he was barred from using the Internet except for work-related purposes as part of a five-year probation sentence. His probation officer said in court that Pathiakis lied about his Internet use. After reviewing printed copies of Pathiakis’ Web sites, another judge ordered him to jail.
Nov 14 - Legislators are being urged to impose minimum sentences for sex offenders. Pathiakis' victim testified. The legislation appears to have support of both political parties.
Also see - Archive story from The Enterprise: Former Middleboro teacher avoids jail time for rape
TT - We looked up the judge. Judge Suzanne V. Del Vecchio is now retired and "does private dispute resolution for Commonwealth Mediation and Conciliation Inc. Her distinguished career includes serving for a period of time as chief justice of the Superior Court, as well as positions with the Legal Aid Society, for the City of Boston and in private practice. A popular and skilled instructor, Judge Del Vecchio teaches courses in trial advocacy and in advanced trial advocacy."
Ironically, Commonwealth Mediation and Coniliation, Inc. is involved in settling sex abuse cases with Catholic dioceses. In the press story of the settlement in the case of defrocked priest John F. Geoghan, there was this:
Paul A. Finn and Sarah E. Worley, president and vice president, respectively, of Commonwealth Mediation and Conciliation of Brockton, brokered the deal that reportedly will give the victims $20 to $30 million.
"Both sides worked very hard so people abused by this priest Geoghan were given a sense of justice," said Finn, 52. "We were all working toward one goal: to begin the healing process for them."Jan 22, 2006 - Boston Globe columnist Eileen McNamara defended Judge DelVecchio and Judge Edward Cashman.
Determining what constitutes ''the right thing" is never easy for judges but it is especially difficult in cases like these. Second-guessing judicial rulings has become a national pastime; we no longer expect judges simply to interpret the law but to be avenging angels.
For all the fear and anger engendered by the sexual victimization of children, we do a pretty poor job of wrestling with issues of prevention and recidivism. Our focus is appropriately, but perhaps too exclusively, on punishment and public safety.
