Convicted child rapist Wayne Chapman will continue to sit behind bars as he awaits trial because he is unable to pay the $25,000 bail, according to his attorney.
The bail stems from new charges that include open and gross lewdness, wanton and lascivious acts and more after he allegedly exposed himself and was masturbating in the view of a prison staff at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Shirley last June.
Prosecutors on Thursday asked a judge to delay the 71-year-old's trial for 48 days so a witness could testify. The judge approved their request.
Meanwhile, Chapman's attorney hoped to at least reduce his bail.
"Twenty-five thousand dollars is not an amount that he can post and I would suggest it is an egregious amount of bail, given my client's means," said attorney Melissa Devore.
However, the judge denied her statement.
Chapman spent 30 years in prison after he was convicted of raping two boys in Lawrence in 1977. Families of the victims protested his release, but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered it just last week.
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He was convicted in three states and had roughly 50 victims over a span of 10 years. He was also the main suspect in the 1976 disappearance of 10-year-old Andy Puglisi, who went missing after visiting a Lawrence pool.
Chapman's prison term ended in 2004, but he remained civilly committed until last summer.
The defendant was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and is now wheelchair bound. The judge says he is no longer sexually dangerous because of his physical limitations.
Chapman's trial is scheduled to begin July 30.
