Level 3 Sex Offender Released on Error Back in Court

Richard Gardner was arrested at a Boston shelter Friday night on a fugitive from justice charge out of Rhode Island

A convicted sex offender was back in a courtroom Monday amid outrage from community members in Weymouth, Massachusetts. 

Richard Gardner was arrested at a Boston shelter Friday night on a fugitive from justice charge out of Rhode Island. 

Gardner is a Level 3 sex offender who was released after nearly three decades behind bars for kidnapping and raping boys in the 1980s. 

The district attorney says Gardner was freed due to a human error. 

He is now charged with violating the terms and conditions of his release after he was kicked out of the Quincy Library for violating a local ordinance. 

According to court documents, Gardner, "entered and remained in a place frequented by children which is in violation of the no contact order issued."

He was held without bail following his appearance in court and a judge accepted his waiver of extradition. 

A date for his return back to Rhode Island has not been set. 

His latest arrest comes after residents in his parent's Weymouth neighborhood filed a petition for GPS bracelets on sex offenders.

Contact Us