State Supreme Judicial Upholds Decision in Quincy Indecent Assault Case

QUINCY, MA — The state's highest court has ruled that a man's guilty plea in a Quincy indecent assault case was not constitutionally ineffective.

Wednesday, the state's Judicial Supreme Court ruled that William J. Sylvester's right to legal representation was not violated when his attorney advised him to enter a guilty plea in 2002 without telling him what it means.

"We conclude that plea counsel was not constitutionally ineffective in rendering this advice in 2002, although we leave for another day the question whether such advice would be constitutionally ineffective based on the current statutory scheme for sex offender registration. We affirm the decision of the District Court judge denying the defendant's motion to vacate his guilty plea," the decision read.

In the summer of 2002, police say Sylvester groped a 15-year-old girl at the Quincy MBTA station. When the girl tried to run away, Sylvester ran in front of her and pulled her towards him by her front pockets.

After leaving her alone, Sylvester returned and robbed a boy the victim was with. He was arrested the next day.

He pleaded guilty to the charges, according to the Patriot Ledger and was ordered to serve six months of an 18-month sentence and two years of probation. He has been charged multiple times for failing to register as a sex offender.

He tried to withdraw his plea in 2002, explaining that he would not have plead guilty if he knew the consequences of sex offender registration.

Click here to read the ruling.

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