COFAR blog

Sheila Paquette’s  long-running quest to bring the man who allegedly assaulted her intellectually disabled brother to justice took yet another turn this week.

After months of delay, Monday, January 9, marked the date for the trial of John Saunders, a former care worker in the group home in which Paquette’s brother, John Burns, lives. 

The bad news is Saunders was a no-show at Falmouth District Court, to which Paquette and five witnesses in the case had traveled from their homes in western Massachusetts.  But Paquette was not deterred or defeated.  The good news is that the judge in the case ruled that Saunders had defaulted on his bail and should not be released prior to trial if he is picked up on a violation of any kind.

But Paquette said the judge’s ruling was “a really positive thing for us.  If he (Saunders) gets picked up, he’ll be in jail and there is no way he can avoid showing up for trial again.”  The question is when, if ever, Saunders will be picked up.  Police are unlikely to go looking for someone wanted for allegedly assaulting a disabled man.

Nevertheless, Paquette believes she is proving by sticking with the case that the system can be made to work for crime victims, even when those victims are intellectually disabled.  “The state and the public should know that we will take these cases to court,” she said.   She said she has started a legal fund to raise money not only to pursue her brother’s case, but to help others pursue similar prosecutions of assaults against people with disabilities.  “It’s a difficult process, and I think a lot of people are intimidated by it,” she said.   

Paquette said her main concern now is that her brother may have become depressed in recent months and that his condition may be connected to the assault.  “It’s one more assault he couldn’t manage,” she said, noting that her brother had been assaulted on two occasions in group homes prior to the alleged assault by Saunders.