BOSTON – A Massachusetts man has lost his fourth bid for freedom after spending nearly 27 years in prison for a rape he still insists he didn’t commit, despite winning over high-profile supporters in his effort.

Benjamin LaGuer is serving a life term for breaking into the home of a 59-year-old neighbor in Leominster in July 1983, beating, robbing, raping her for more than eight hours before tying her up and leaving the scene.

The state parole board said in a decision released Friday that members voted unanimously not to free LaGuer, 46, because he was dishonest during a contentious 3½-hour parole hearing in April and he has a lengthy disciplinary history in prison that includes four serious reports in the past fifteen months.

“Especially troubling is his most recent disciplinary report, less than a year ago, for possession of a large number of pornographic images,” the board said in the decision dated May 20.

Board members also said that they were troubled that LaGuer hasn’t sought significant sex offender treatment while in prison.

LaGuer repeatedly said at the April parole hearing that he refuses to take part in any program that requires him to admit guilt.

LaGuer’s attorney, retired Superior Court Judge Isaac Borenstein, did not immediately return a call for comment.

LaGuer’s decades-long campaign to get out of prison has collected backing from high-profile figures, including Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and linguist Noam Chomsky.

 


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