BOSTON, Oct. 27, 2014—A child predator could spend the rest of his life at a secure facility after a Suffolk Superior Court jury found him to be a sexually dangerous person this afternoon, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

After three days of testimony and about two hours of deliberations, jurors found WILLIAM BRADSHAW (D.O.B. 4/19/82) of Roxbury to be sexually dangerous under Ch. 123A of the Massachusetts General Laws. Judge Brian A. Davis ordered Bradshaw to the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater for a period of one day to life after Assistant District Attorney Nicole Poirier proved that he is “likely to engage in further sexual offenses if not confined to a secure facility.”

Poirier, who is assigned to the DA’s Child Protection Unit, introduced Bradshaw’s criminal record, which includes a delinquency adjudication for indecent assault and battery on a child from 1999, when he was a juvenile, and for failing to register as a sex offender in light of that conviction. She also introduced three adult convictions for indecent assault and battery on a child and two adult convictions for rape of a child.  His adult convictions stem from incidents in 2005 and 2009, when he sexually assaulted younger family members in Boston’s South End and Mission Hill; he was indicted for both of those cases in 2009 and pleaded guilty in 2012. His SDP commitment means that he will be released from prison directly to the Massachusetts Treatment Facility.

Among other witnesses, Poirier introduced testimony from two qualified mental health examiners who opined that Bradshaw suffers from pedophilia and antisocial personality disorder, meaning that he is sexually aroused by children and acts on that arousal without regard to the consequences for the victim or himself. Based on his documented history of offenses, the expert opined that he posed a moderate to high risk of re-offending when released from his current prison sentence. Poirier also introduced evidence that Bradshaw worked at a toy store after his first sexual assault conviction.

Poirier also introduced testimony from a victim who had not previously disclosed sexual abuse by Bradshaw. Like the other victims, she was a member of Bradshaw’s extended family and authorities only learned of the abuse she suffered while preparing for the SDP trial: her statements were not available to the mental health expert who reviewed Bradshaw’s history.

Under the sexually dangerous person statute, prosecutors may seek post-incarceration civil commitment for any person serving a sentence for certain sex offenses if a qualified examiner finds the defendant to be sexually dangerous. Though they are civil proceedings, prosecutors’ burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt, just as in criminal cases. If found to be sexually dangerous, the defendant is committed to a secure facility for a period of one day to life but may petition for release once a year.

Anne Kelley-McCarthy was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Bradshaw was represented by attorney James Cipoletta.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.