Commonwealth v. Roberts

In 2005, the defendant pleaded guilty to several sexual offenses, including forcible rape, committed against three children. Neither his defense counsel nor the judge who accepted his guilty pleas informed the defendant that his sexual offense convictions could, pursuant to G. L. c. 123A, serve as a predicate for civil confinement as a sexually dangerous person for from one day to life. Although each conviction of forcible rape of a child carried a maximum sentence of life in prison, by pleading guilty to them the defendant obtained a sentence of from not less than nine to not more than…