Child rapist gets 5-7 years.

Byline: Gary V. Murray

WORCESTER - A Gardner man was sentenced to state prison yesterday afternoon for raping a 14-year-old girl who took her own life last month.

Lawrence M. Lafrennie, 26, of 7 Glazier St., Gardner, was sentenced to a prison term of 5 to 7 years, with 3 years of probation to follow, after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court to three counts of statutory rape. The sentence imposed by Judge James R. Lemire was recommended by Assistant District Attorney Paula J. Frasso and Mr. Lafrennie's lawyer, Jacqueline Dutton, under a plea agreement that also resulted in the dismissal of three additional counts of statutory rape against Mr. Lafrennie, as well as a charge of furnishing alcohol to a person under 21.

Ms. Frasso said the sexual assaults occurred in the summer of 2008 at the Phillipston home of the victim, who committed suicide Sept. 22.

Fighting back tears, the victim's grieving father told Judge Lemire he believed the case against Mr. Lafrennie was a contributing factor in his daughter's suicide. He said his daughter had feared retaliation for her cooperation with state police investigators.

"As far as I'm concerned, you couldn't lock him away long enough," the father said of Mr. Lafrennie, who had been previously sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to orchestrating a burglary and robbery through a social networking Web site.

"Once a pedophile, always a pedophile. Lock him up and throw away the key," the father urged the judge.

Ms. Frasso said the victim initially denied any sexual contact with Mr. Lafrennie under questioning by police, but later told investigators the two had engaged in sex. Mr. Lafrennie also admitted to police that he had sexual relations with the girl on several occasions and knew she was not of legal age, according to the prosecutor.

Ms. Frasso said the three acts constituting the rape charges to which Mr. Lafrennie pleaded guilty were witnessed by another teenager, who gave a statement to police. She said she was moving for dismissal of the other charges because the victim was no longer available to testify and there was no corroborating evidence other than Mr. Lafrennie's admissions.

As conditions of probation, Mr. Lafrennie was prohibited from accessing the Internet and ordered to undergo sex offender treatment and a drug and alcohol evaluation and any related treatment recommended by the probation department. He was further ordered to have no contact with the victim's family or children under age 16, to register as a sex offender and to submit to GPS monitoring.

Judge Lemire sentenced Mr. Lafrennie to a consecutive prison term of 5 to 7 years for violating the terms of his probation from his previous conviction. The violation was based on Mr. Lafrennie's arrest on the statutory rape charges.

Judge Lemire stayed the the prison sentence until Oct. 23 and ordered that Mr. Lafrennie be held without bail at the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction in West Boylston until then.

Asked if he was satisfied with the sentence as he was leaving the courthouse, the victim's father said, "I'd like to see him hang, but that's my view."

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Mr. Lafrennie