ERIC JENNEY
WESTFIELD- On Friday, three cases involving sex crimes committed by city men were called in Westfield District Court and the cases are being, or may be, moved to Hampden County Superior Court.
“Most crimes begin in district court, and the more serious crimes are then brought to the grand jury. If the grand jury issues an indictment, the district court complaint will be dismissed and the case will be handled in superior court,” according to mass.gov. “The district court is generally limited to deciding cases for which the maximum authorized penalty for a crime is not more than five years’ imprisonment.”
Registered Sex Offender Jesse J. Caisse, Sr. has a new attorney, Alan J. Black of Northampton, who filed appearance papers on September 23.
On September 11, Maria Barroso, who was the defendant’s court-appointed attorney at the time, asked Judge Philip A. Contant in Westfield District Court Friday for a continuance while Caisse tried to raise money to hire private counsel.
According to court records, Caisse, 44, has already been indicted in Hamden County Superior Court, so he did not appear in district court on Friday.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in superior court on November 2 on charges of indecent assault and battery of a person 14 or over and witness intimidation, stemming from his July 18 arrest, according to court documents.
A 14-year-old female, apparently a family friend, is accusing Caisse of repeatedly making sexual advances towards her on the evening of July 16 through July 17.
Caisse’s record on the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB), listed under Jessie James Caisse, as a level 3 sex offender, shows 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 10 years in the Massachusetts Correction Institute-Cedar Junction.
Eric Jenney was in court on Friday and his public defender, Jared Olanoff, asked for a continuance before participating in a lengthy side bar with the prosecutor and judge.
Defense waived Rule 36, his right to a “speedy trial,” and Contant set a new pretrial hearing date of January 22.
Jenney, 45, is charged with three counts of possession of child pornography.
At an August 7 pretrial hearing Olanoff said the district attorney’s office is deciding whether to move the case to superior court.
On Friday Olanoff stated “It remains to be seen,” as to whether his client’s case will be moved to superior court, but added that he was asked to take the case because he is able to represent Jenney in both superior and district court.
When Alan D. White’s case was called, the Clerk Magistrate said that White has already been indicted and arraigned in superior court.
Attorney William Lyons said he was unsure of the case’s status.
White, 48, was arrested on September 3 and charged with two counts of photographing an unsuspecting nude person, reckless endangerment of a child and two counts of disseminating photographs of an unsuspecting nude person.
White admitted to taking secret photographs of a partially nude child twice between February 2012 and February 2015, and he admitted to giving these photographs to an individual, known to the Commonwealth–believed to be Jenney–according to court records.
Police aren’t confirming nor denying whether White’s case and Jenney’s case are linked, but there appears to be a strong connection. Neither Lyons nor Olanoff would comment on the possible connection.
Staff Writer Christine Charnosky can be reached at [email protected]
