Guilty Plea In Sex Offender Trespassing Case At Merrimack College

NORTH ANDOVER, MA -- A Level 3 sex offender who has been spending time in Andover and North Andover in recent months pleaded guilty Friday to a trespassing charge stemming from an October incident at Merrimack College in North Andover. Deborah Moccia, 63, was sentenced to jail time already serve by a Lynn District Court judge.

Moccia, who was formerly known as Paul Charbonneau, has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 1972 that includes 40 violent crimes. She still has a pending case in Salem Superior Court for failing to register as a sex offender when she moved. In the weeks leading up to the October incident at Merrimack, North Andover Police had logged more than 80 complaints about Moccia. Complaints had also been lodged with Andover Police.

The trespassing case was moved from Lawrence District Court because Moccia has a prior conviction of threatening a judge in that court.

Moccia is free on her own recognizance as she awaits the outcome of the pending case. Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley rejected a prosecution request in October to hold her on $5,000 bail. If convicted, Moccia faces a mandatory sentence of at least five years in jail. "She really has nowhere to go," Feeley reportedly said. "She is well-known to local police....It won't be hard to bring her back to court."

See Moccia's entry in the state's sex offender database.

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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).