PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Providence residents continue to push for a convicted child rapist to move out of their neighborhood.
Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare told residents Wednesday night at an emergency neighborhood association meeting that police were ensuring their safety.
Neighbors have protested Richard Gardner for weeks, trying to force him to move.
Gardner was convicted of multiple child rapes in the 1980s and 1990s in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He served decades in prison and was released last month.
Gardner’s wife, Patricia, has said they’re staying put and that she’s “1,000 percent” certain he will not re-offend.
The American Civil Liberties Union has argued that Gardner is allowed to live in Providence and that loud protests violate a city ordinance.
