Release ordered for man jailed in sex abuse case; Petition for commitment denied.

Byline: Gary V. Murray

WORCESTER - Ronald L. Hewitt, a former foster parent convicted four years ago of having sexual relations with teenage boys in his care, was ordered released from custody yesterday after a judge denied a prosecutor's petition to have him committed as a sexually dangerous person.

Judge Kathe M. Tuttman found after a jury-waived trial in Worcester Superior Court that Assistant District Attorney David A. Tiberii had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Hewitt suffered from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that made him likely to commit another sex offense if not confined to a secure facility.

Mr. Tiberii was seeking Mr. Hewitt's civil commitment to the treatment center at Bridgewater State Hospital for one day to life.

Mr. Hewitt, 63, formerly of 270 Sunderland Road, was convicted in 2003 of rape, indecent assault and battery, two counts each of disseminating obscene material to a minor and disseminating harmful material to a minor, indecent exposure and indecent behavior. The victims were three teenage boys who had been placed with Mr. Hewitt in 2001 in his capacity as a foster parent with the Safe Homes program.

Mr. Hewitt was placed on probation for 10 years. While on probation in 2005, he was charged with another count of disseminating obscene material to a minor after meeting a 16-year-old boy at a Grafton Street coffeeshop and slipping the youth a note directing him to a Web site depicting teenage boys in sexually explicit poses, according to the petition for commitment.

As a consequence of that charge, Mr. Hewitt was found to have violated the terms of his Worcester Superior Court probation. On Sept. 20, 2005, he was sentenced to 2 years in the House of Correction. Three months later, he was sentenced in Central District Court to a consecutive 6-month jail term on the 2005 dissemination charge.

Mr. Hewitt has remained in custody at the treatment center while awaiting trial on the prosecution's petition for commitment. He had been scheduled to be released from jail May 12, but was committed to the treatment center for further evaluation in April after a probable cause hearing on the petition.

The jury-waived trial before Judge Tuttman included testimony from five forensic psychologists.

Two were called to the stand by Mr. Tiberii and testified that Mr. Hewitt met the legal criteria for a sexually dangerous person.

Three were called by Mr. Hewitt's lawyer, Bruce E. Hopper, and said they did not find Mr. Hewitt to be sexually dangerous.

In denying Mr. Tiberii's petition for commitment, Judge Tuttman said she found the evidence offered on Mr. Hewitt's behalf "more convincing" than that presented by the prosecution. She also cited several "protective factors" that she said seemed to decrease Mr. Hewitt's risk of offending again. They included Mr. Hewitt's age, the two years he spent in jail, and the fact that he suffers from Parkinson's disease.