Lexington's Lone Registered Sex Offender Made Headlines In Belmont Four Years Ago

LEXINGTON, MA—Lexington has just one Level 3 sex offender living in town. Carl O. Peterson, 52, lives and works at 3 Winston Road, according to information provided to the state under a law requiring all convicted sex offenders to register with their local police departments.

Peterson was convicted in 2000 in Ohio on charges of indecent assault and battery on child under 14 years of age and rape and abuse of child. The crime occurred in 1999 and the victim was his niece. Peterson served four years in an Ohio prison before moving to Massachusetts.

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Attempts to reach Peterson for comment were unsuccessful. Peterson briefly lived in Belmont before moving back to Lexington. In 2013 he made national headlines when he spoke about being a registered sex offender at a community meeting in Belmont. The local story was picked up by national news wire services as part of the ongoing debate about the practice of making information about convicted sex offenders public.

The Board of Directors for the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws objects to local public safety maps which pinpoint the addresses of individuals listed on official state sex-offender registries. The group recently submitted a letter to Patch outlining its concerns.

Four years ago the Belmont Police Department organized a meeting shortly after Peterson moved to town to inform the public of the sexual offenders registry and address safety concerns. Peterson told his new neighbors that they only know the most basic information regarding him and the reason he was incarcerated for four years.

"It seems as though the big reason why we are here tonight is me," said Peterson, who had moved in with his wife and their 14-year-old daughter in July 2013. "The problem is all you know, all you get to know about my problem is what you read ... which says I'm the most dangerous and the most likely to reoffend of all sex offenders. It also says my offense was the rape against a child."

The Level 3 designation is reserved for the most severe offenders, according to the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board. These types of sex offenders pose a ”high risk” to reoffend. They are not wanted by police—and it’s illegal to use the following information to commit a crime or engage in any discrimination or harassment against an offender.

At the September, 2013 meeting in Belmont, several residents shouted down Peterson. "I don't want to hear this!" a woman cried out from the back of the hall, breaking the tension with the outburst.

"Just go!" said another.

"It's not important what I did. What's important is that I'm not the victim. I'm a sex offender and I committed a crime and I did spend four years in prison for" it, said Peterson. "I don't want to scare people. You are afraid of me and I hate that. There's not a whole lot that I can do about that."

Information on registered sex offenders is available through local police departments and through the online registry. There are no Level 2 sex offenders registered as either living or working in Lexington. Level 2 sex offenders have a moderate risk of re-offending and pose a moderate degree of danger to the public.

Photo by 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).