The Berkshire Eagle reports that Anthony Austin, 37, was sentenced last week to state prison after pleading guilty in Berkshire Superior Court to three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14. The admission came after lawyers for the prosecution and defense reached a plea agreement.
Austin received a 10- to 14-year sentence for three counts of the felony charge, according to Frederick A. Lantz, a spokesman for Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless.
Austin was convicted of similar crimes in Worcester Superior Court in 1999.
In Pittsfield, the boy’s father praised Berkshire Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ford for handing down the tough sentence, but thought it could have been even harsher.
Authorities said Austin came to know his young victim through an adult friend of the boy’s family.
In the 1999 case in Worcester, Austin was convicted of crimes that included one count of rape and abuse of a child, one count of assaulting a child with intent to commit rape, and five counts of indecent assault and battery of a child less than age 14.
Austin was a Level 3 sex offender at the time of the Pittsfield assault, according to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board. A Level 3 designation is the most severe category, meaning Austin was at “high risk” of re-offending.
“We did get somebody dangerous off the streets,” the boy’s father said, referring to Austin as a “sexual predator.”
