A serial child rapist convicted in three states, who has been behind bars for four decades, could be released as soon as Wednesday.
Outrage is growing over the impending release of Wayne Chapman, who was sent to prison in 1977 for raping two boys in Lawrence.
Chapman has spent years trying to be released but court documents show he was found to be too dangerous each time and that he refused to take part in treatment while in prison.
Documents also show that in a span of 10 years before he was arrested, Chapman had roughly 50 victims. He is believed to have molested many victims in the woods by luring them there to find a phony dog.
Chapman is also the main suspect in the 1976 disappearance of Andy Puglisi, a 10-year-old boy who went to a Lawrence pool and was never seen again.
Puglisi's aunt, Billie Scharn, has been trying to keep Chapman behind bars.
"I believe the man is evil," she said. "Their sentence is a life sentence for what they went through. You can’t take that away from them. That’s always going to be there for them, so why shouldn’t he have a life sentence, too?"
U.S. & World
This year when Chapman petitioned to be released, two experts testified he was no longer sexually dangerous, meaning he was able to skip a hearing at Suffolk Superior Court and now the Department of Corrections has to set him free.
"Wayne Chapman has molested a lot of children," Retired detective Al Mintz said.
Mintz was a Providence, Rhode Island officer when he first interviewed Chapman for 22 hours back in 1976. He helped put Chapman behind bars and says that's the only place Chapman should be.
"He's probably the most prolific pedophile I've ever run across, and I've run across plenty of them."
Chapman is being held at Massachusetts Correctional Institution - Shirley, and he's set to be released as early as Wednesday.
It's unclear what Chapman's conditions will be when he is released.
