No New Trial For Andover Man Convicted Of Sex Assault On Mother

ANDOVER, MA -- The Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld a lower-courts decision to not grant a new trial to an Andover man who was convicted of sexually assaulting his mother, who was incapacitated following a stroke in 2013. In a ruling issued Thursday, the appeals court said the lower court had not erred when it denied 58-year-old John Bangert an evidentiary hearing and that he had not sufficiently proved his claim that he was represented by ineffective counsel at his trial.

Bangert was charged in 2013 after a nurse at the Wingate Nursing Home in Andover entered his mother's room and saw him digitally penetrating the woman, who was unable to move or speak as a result of her stroke. Bangert maintained his innocence in interviews with police and throughout the trial, claiming the nurse had either fabricated her story and was mistaken in what she thought she saw. He was convicted of rape and incest in a jury trial in 2015.

Related: Andover's 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

Subscribe to Andover Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Photo by the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).