Jesse J. Caisse, Sr. is escorted from Westfield District Court Monday after being arraigned on charges of indecent assault and battery of a person 14 or over. (photo by Christine Charnosky)
By CHRISTINE CHARNOSKY
Correspondent
WESTFIELD – Assistant District Attorney Michael Wallace successfully fought in Westfield District Court Thursday to protect the community from a level 3 sex offender.
Westfield District Court Judge Philip A. Contant ordered that that there is clear and convincing evidence to deny Jesse J. Caisse, Sr., 44, be released on pretrial probation.
Maria Barroso, the defendant’s court-appointed attorney, argued for $3,000 bail and house arrest with a GPS monitor, adding that the defendant’s wife, Cassondra, who is three months pregnant, along with her mother, Cathy Newsome, were present in courtroom as a show of support.
According to Cassondra Caisse’s Facebook profile, she graduated high school in 2011 and married Caisse on June 15, 2013. Neither Cassondra Caisse nor her mother wanted to speak to the press.
“He’s a predator,” Wallace argued.
Contant agreed with Wallace that there were no conditions that could provide safety for the community, especially for children.
On Monday, Caisse pleaded not guilty to charges of indecent assault and battery of a person 14 or over and witness intimidation.
A search warrant was served on the couple’s Holyoke Road home at 1:05 p.m. the afternoon of July 18 after a 14-year-old female went to the Westfield Police Department July 17 to report she had been sexually assaulted that day, according to court records.
The defendant had invited the victim, who is apparently a family friend, to his house on July 16 to meet his 7-year-old daughter.
The victim had a sleep-over with the 7-year-old and described to police how Caisse allegedly acted inappropriately toward her repeatedly on the evening of July 16 and through July 17. The victim repeatedly told the defendant “no,” tried to stop him and tried to get away from him.
Caisse allegedly told the victim, “You have to swear on your mother’s grave not to tell anyone what I said or did,” according to court records.
Caisse’s long criminal history is another reason Wallace argued for pretrial detention.
Caisse’s record on the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB), listed under Jessie James Caisse, lists two convictions of rape of a child with force and two convictions for indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years of age, all from December 15, 1998 for which he served a 7-10 years in the Massachusetts Correction Institute-Cedar Junction. He has been on the SORB since 2008.
Caisse’s criminal history includes eight pages listing numerous convictions for indecent assault and battery, threatening murder, firearms charges, malicious destruction of property, assault and battery, and “these are just what he was convicted of,” Wallace said.
In 1997, Caisse was shot by Holyoke police after he had threatened to kill himself with a handgun and then assaulted a police officer.
Contant ordered that the defendant not contact, threaten or abuse the victim directly, indirectly or through a third party.
Caisse will continue to be held in the Hampden County House of Correction pending a September 11 hearing.
