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December 23, 2011

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DA: Close sex-with-prisoner loophole in Mass. law

The current law says prisoners cannot legally consent to having sex with a police or corrections officer

By Christian Schiavone
The Patriot Ledger

BOSTON — Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley is asking lawmakers to tighten a law that prohibits police and corrections officers, but not court officers, from having sex with prisoners.

In a letter to legislative leaders, Conley asked that the law be changed to close a "loophole" investigators uncovered while investigating the case of a court officer from Braintree accused of sexual misconduct with prisoners.

Michael Rubino, 35, was arraigned Friday on charges stemming from allegations that he had sexual contact with two prisoners, one of whom was handcuffed and shackled at the time, while he was working in a Boston courthouse, according to a press release from Conley's office.

The current law says prisoners cannot legally consent to having sex with a police or corrections officer. Violating the law is a felony and punishable by up to five years in prison, according to Conley's office. But the law does not cover court officers, who have custody of inmates while they are in court.

Rubino was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on charges of misconduct with the prisoners. He was ordered held on $2,000 bail.

Police say the alleged misconduct occurred in 2010 and earlier this year while Rubino was working at the Edward Brooke Courthouse in Boston. The alleged offenses occurred in Suffolk County but the case was moved to Middlesex County because of Rubino's ties to the Boston courts.

Rubino twice engaged in sexual misconduct with a female prisoner while she was handcuffed and shackled at the downtown Boston courthouse early this year, according to a press release from Conley's office. Rubino also allegedly lied about the incidents when he was confronted by Boston police detectives.

He is also accused of giving another female prisoner cash and cigarettes in exchange for sexual acts at the same courthouse either late last year or early this year.