Commonwealth v. Boucher

In this case we must decide the meaning of the word “likely” as the Legislature used it in the context of defining a sexually dangerous person as someone “likely to engage in sexual offenses if not confined to a secure facility” pursuant to G. L. c. 123A, § 1.

Background. In December, 1987, Steven Boucher pleaded *275guilty to three counts of rape of a child with force and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen years. He was given three sentences of from twelve to fifteen years and three sentences of from eight to ten years, all to be served concurrently.…