Perfetto himself has told reporters he fears he'll reoffend
A recently released state prisoner with a history of sex offenses has taken up residence in a Bridge Street rooming house.
Jonathan Perfetto, 34, says he is trying to get a "fresh start" at 195 Bridge St. after seven years in prison on child pornography charges.
"I just moved here. I don't want to get in trouble," he said.
His presence, however, has alarmed some city officials. Mayor Frank Guinta called Perfetto a "classic example" of someone who is likely to reoffend.
"There's got to be a better system than just allowing someone like this to come to Manchester, unannounced, without any preconditions," Guinta said.
Perfetto does not require supervision under state law because he maxed out his three- to seven-year prison sentence. His sentence ended Oct. 22, according to a Department of Corrections spokesman.
Records in Hillsborough County Superior Court show Perfetto twice failed to complete a sex offender treatment program. His primary therapist reported Perfetto was "not interested in or amenable to treatment at this time."
Perfetto himself has told reporters he fears he'll reoffend, particularly if he goes off his medication. He has claimed in court documents that he suffers from bipolar disorder and "anti-social personality disorder."
Perfetto has family in New Hampshire and is a former Manchester resident. He said he attended Central High School but did not complete his senior year because he was convicted of molesting a young relative and sent to the Youth Development Center.
His choice of housing in Manchester has made some officials uneasy. The rooming house is just a few blocks away from St. Joseph Regional Junior High School. Central High School is visible from the side entrance, a fact Perfetto seemed surprised to discover yesterday.
"Is that Central High School?" he asked while rounding the corner of Bridge and Ash streets. "They refurbished it!"
Perfetto said he found the rooming house with help from a "homeless hotline." The building already houses one other sex offender, according to the state's online registry.
The same house came under intense scrutiny last month, when a religious organization helped place a convicted child killer, Raymond Guay, in an apartment there. A public outcry spurred officials to relocate Guay to a federal halfway house in another state.
Alderman Jim Roy, whose ward includes the rooming house, said the Guay case was different because Guay "didn't have ties to the community and didn't want to be here." Perfetto, on the other hand, chose to live in Manchester.
"As much as I hate to say it, it's a free country," Roy said. "The way I look at it, he's paid his debt to society. He can go wherever he wants."
Manchester Police Lt. Scott Legasse said Perfetto has five days to register with the department as a sex offender.
"And if he doesn't, if he fails to follow the law, then he can be arrested," Legasse said.
Police in Concord had been keeping an eye on Perfetto after they discovered he was living in a parking garage near the State House. Officials there said he posed a risk to the public's safety.
"It's unusual to have someone released from state prison and not have some form of supervision," said Concord city prosecutor Scott Murray.
Perfetto pleaded guilty in March 2002 to 61 counts of child pornography possession. Prosecutors accused him of having dozens of illegal files on his computer, including some with names like "10rape," "preteen04," and "10cubaprostitute."
His record includes a conviction in 1993 for criminal trespassing and another in 1994 for simple assault. In 1998, he was charged with fondling a woman's breasts while she used a computer at the New Horizons shelter in Manchester.
Prosecutors dropped the charge.
Perfetto has admitted to other offenses, telling the Concord Monitor he was sentenced to the New Hampshire Hospital after touching a woman's chest in 1999. He wound up serving time in Merrimack County jail, he told the paper, because he fought with hospital staff over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Prosecutors said Perfetto did not exhibit good behavior in the state prison.
Court papers cite him for 28 violations of prison rules or state law, including extortion, fighting, theft, disobeying corrections officers, destroying property and counterfeiting.
He also was accused of misbehaving while in the sex offender treatment program. Once, records show, he got in trouble for watching the Disney film, "Angels in the Outfield," which was deemed "inappropriate TV."
Perfetto said he is trying to stay out of trouble at his new home in Manchester. He said he "detours" around the schools when he travels through the neighborhood.
He answered a few questions yesterday but cut the interview short, saying, "I already lost a job opportunity because of all this (publicity)."
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