GREENFIELD — An Athol man was found to be a sexually dangerous person Thursday and was committed to a treatment center until he can be deemed as no longer a danger to society following the first jury trial in Franklin County Superior Court since February 2020.
Jurors deliberated for two hours to conclude William Hoyt, 47, formerly of Greenfield, was a public threat. Hoyt was ordered to be committed to the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater after the four-day trial before Franklin County Superior Court Judge Michael Callan.
According to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, Hoyt had already been convicted of sexual offenses, including indecent assault and battery on a child in 1994, indecent assault and battery on an adult in 2005, and rape of a child in 2010.
“Our office pursues these petitions in only the most egregious cases,” Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne said in a press release. “We use the sexually dangerous person statute to protect the community from inmates who are likely to sexually reoffend if released.”
The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office files about one or two sexually dangerous person petitions each year, according to Laurie Loisel, director of communication and outreach.
Hoyt has been in prison serving a 10- to 12-year sentence related to his 2010 Franklin County Superior Court conviction on multiple counts. As he neared the end of that sentence in mid-2020, the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office filed a petition to commit Hoyt as a sexually dangerous person based on his pattern of committing sexual assaults.
According to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, the sexually dangerous person determination is a civil procedure permitted under state law. Under the statute, the state must prove that a person who was previously convicted of a sexual offense suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to commit sexual offenses if released. Courts impose the heightened “beyond-a-reasonable-doubt” standard of proof used in criminal trials, even though the proceeding is civil in nature, because a person’s liberty is at stake.
Hoyt will continue with sex offender treatment at the Massachusetts Treatment Center, a medium-security separate facility that treats male inmates who are convicted sex offenders and those who have been civilly committed as sexually dangerous individuals. According to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, licensed clinicians will annually review Hoyt’s progress and he will remain committed until they determine he is no longer at high risk to reoffend.
“We thank the jury for serving on this very difficult case, and for reaching what we believe was the right verdict,” said Gagne, who prosecuted the case together with Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Lori Odierna.
Defense attorney William Korman, of the Boston law firm Rudolph Friedmann LLP, argued at trial that Hoyt had made sufficient progress during his treatment while in prison, and that the state had not proved he was at risk for reoffending.
Four witnesses, including the Athol detective who investigated the 2010 case, and three expert psychologists, testified during the trial.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.