Freed Child Rapist Arrested in Boston

A convicted child rapist who had been freed, much to the chagrin of his neighbors in Weymouth, Massachusetts, has been arrested again.

Police in Boston arrested Richard Gardner late Friday afternoon on a fugitive from justice charge out of Rhode Island. He will also be charged with violating the terms and conditions of his release, with authorities saying he violated a "child safe ordinance" in Quincy.

Gardner is a Level 3 sex offender who was released after almost three decades behind bars. Authorities say he was freed due to human error. He was convicted of kidnapping and raping several boys in the 1980s.

With neighbors near his old home in Weymouth upset, Gardner has been tossed out of a library and a shelter since being freed.

The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office failed to petition to have Gardner committed in civil court as a "sexually dangerous person," which is why he was released.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, he will be arraigned in Boston Monday as a fugitive from justice.

Stay with necn as this story develops.

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