Not only a Democrat, a Clinton Democrat...
Former city councilor is arrested on sex charge
Charged with trying to entice a minor
By Brian R. Ballou and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | October 11, 2006
David Scondras swept onto the City Council in 1983, a Harvard-educated tenant activist from the Fenway who wanted to fight for the less fortunate. He was reelected five times, serving as the city's first openly gay councilor when few politicians spoke about their sexuality.
But a series of problems hastened Scondras's fall from office. He was caught making rambling calls to police and acknowledged that he was an alcoholic, had been taking pain medication, and that his partner had been diagnosed with AIDS. In 1993, he was voted out of office.
Yesterday, Scondras faced new allegations when he was charged in Lawrence District Court with trying to entice a minor into having sex.
Police alleged that Scondras, 60, used the screen name Topdadd to send pornographic images and messages to someone he thought was a 15-year-old boy. Police arrested Scondras at 1:15 a.m. in the parking lot of Day Charter School in Lawrence, where authorities say he had arranged to meet for sex. Scondras allegedly tussled with an officer and tried to run away, before being wrestled to the ground and handcuffed.
Scondras pleaded not guilty and was released on $1,500 bail.
Outside his house in Cambridge yesterday, Scondras said: ``I categorically deny everything. Those were lies."
The charge saddened city politicians who had once known Scondras as a tough, smart councilor. Many recalled another episode in 1997, when Scondras was accused of trying to fondle a 16-year-old boy in a Back Bay movie theater. That charge was dropped when the youth refused to testify in court.
``Obviously, I'm horrified to hear something like this," said former city councilor Maura A. Hennigan, who had served with Scondras. ``David had had troubles in the past, and I had hoped that he had overcome them."
Raymond L. Flynn, former mayor, said he was ``very sad to hear about David Scondras."
``I know he's lived a rather lonely life," Flynn said yesterday. ``He used to come over to my house every single Christmas Eve and spend Christmas Eve with my kids and my family, and he had a good heart. It was just tragic that he didn't have the company and the friends that he needed to sustain him."
Police said Scondras had actually been communicating with a 20-year-old male security guard at Lawrence General Hospital. The security guard summoned a police officer at the hospital, and showed him sexually explicit messages he allegedly received from Scondras.
``Come here now im in Cambridge at Central Square," Scondras wrote to the guard, according to a police transcript of their instant messages. ``fore real im 6'3" 180 no fat dark hair very masc, goatee."
The officer, Sergeant Ryan E. Shafer, told the guard to write to Scondras, telling him that he was 15 years old, according to a police report. Scondras then called the guard and said, ``You know, a lot of people have prejudices against guys who like to have sex with children," according to the police report.
The two agreed to meet, and when Scondras arrived at the charter school, Shafer was waiting.
Shafer tried to handcuff Scondras, who grabbed Shafer's Nextel phone and bolted, according to a police report. Shafer gave chase, grabbed Scondras's shirt, pulled him to the ground, and handcuffed him. In Scondras's car, police found a bottle of what appeared to be alcohol. Scondras also was charged with resisting arrest, assault and battery on a police officer, purchasing alcohol for a person under 21, and larceny under $250.
Since leaving government, Scondras has run a nonprofit AIDS organization, Search For A Cure, from his home in Cambridge and been active with the Area 4 Neighborhood Coalition, an advocacy group for residents who live between Central and Kendall squares.
``I think a lot of his close friends thought that when he moved to Cambridge, that maybe that would give him time to breathe, because when you're in the Fenway and you're David Scondras, you can't walk down the street without getting into a political discussion," said Lawrence S. DiCara, a former city councilor.
``This is very, very sad," DiCara said, referring to the arrest, ``because first, he's a human being, but second, he has an extraordinary amount of talent."
Flynn agreed.
``He still has a lot to live for, and he has an awful lot to offer," Flynn said.
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