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	Hearing Delayed Again in Bid to Lock up Pedophile Ex-Priest Associated Press, carried in Boston Herald [Boston MA] January 5, 2005 BOSTON - Civil commitment hearings for former priest James Porter were delayed for another three months on Wednesday after his doctor said the convicted pedophile is too ill with cancer to appear in court. Porter is hospitalized in Boston with incurable cancer. On a conference call, his doctor told New Bedford Superior Court Judge Robert Kane, Porter's lawyer and prosecutors that Porter has lost 40 pounds while undergoing four chemotherapy treatments and is not able to leave the hospital. His cancer has not improved but has not shown signs of spreading, the doctor reported. The next hearing was set for April 7 in Fall River. Bristol First Assistant District Attorney Renee Dupuis said prosecutors are not ready to drop their bid to have Porter committed indefinitely as a sexually dangerous person. "We still view Mr. Porter as a risk to reoffend. Nothing has changed that," she said. "We have prosecuted many defendants who are ill and yet can lead fairly normal lives. By virtue of the fact that they're ill doesn't mean that they won't commit additional crimes. I can't see any circumstances under which we would agree to drop our petition." Porter's lawyer, Michael Farrington, said prosecutors should drop their effort because his client is suffering from an aggressive form of soft tissue cancer and has only a short time to live. "It's unfortunate that he still has to be confined. It's a form of punishment for him that is unnecessary," Farrington said. He said he will evaluate his options. Porter was at the center of a notorious child molestation case a decade ago. He was convicted in 1993 of molesting 28 children during the 1960s and 1970s while he was a priest in the Fall River Diocese. Porter completed 11 years in prison in January 2004, but has remained in custody pending the commitment proceedings. Last fall, Farrington, revealed that Porter had incurable cancer and asked a judge to suspend the proceedings.
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