Tomorrow, the "Pumpkin Man" will be free.
David Cobb, a former English teacher at the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, will be released from New Hampshire state prison. He served 11 years for attempted sexual assault and 321 counts of possessing child pornography.
Now 71 years old, Cobb must register as a sex offender within five days of being released, said Jeffrey Lyons, New Hampshire Department of Corrections spokesman. Prison officials would not say whether the former teacher would return to Massachusetts or remain in New Hampshire.
Though eligible for parole for several years, Cobb - dubbed "the Pumpkin Man" by police after he was arrested carrying a knapsack filled with child pornography and a pumpkin mask - was repeatedly denied release by the state Parole Board. That's because of his refusal to enter court-ordered sex-offender treatment that would have required him to admit guilt, Lyons said.
And the level of his offenses does not qualify him for civil commitment under New Hampshire's new Child Protection Act, which lets authorities keep sex offenders incarcerated after they finish their sentences if they are found to be a danger to the community.
Cobb was arrested in 1995 in Farmington, N.H., not far from his summer home, with a 12-year-old boy. Cobb was wearing a T-shirt from a fictitious camp he called "Camp KYO" and carrying a knapsack filled with child pornography and a pumpkin mask.
Also contained in the knapsack was children's underwear, a payout list for "helping Pumpkin" and a Polaroid camera.
Prosecutors used the payout list, which included tasks such as "lotioning Pumpkin" and "assisting in urination," as evidence to make the case that Cobb was out to molest the boy.
Cobb was sentenced to at least 81/2 years for those charges. In 1997, Cobb pleaded guilty to charges brought by the state of Maine for unlawful sexual contact with a 12-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, which had happened in 1985. His Maine sentence ran concurrently with his New Hampshire prison sentence.
"In general terms, he was eligible for parole for several years, but he was denied by the Parole Board because he did not want to take the sex offender program," Lyons said. "The board has been very consistent with such decisions."
David Cobb, a former English teacher at the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, will be released from New Hampshire state prison. He served 11 years for attempted sexual assault and 321 counts of possessing child pornography.
Now 71 years old, Cobb must register as a sex offender within five days of being released, said Jeffrey Lyons, New Hampshire Department of Corrections spokesman. Prison officials would not say whether the former teacher would return to Massachusetts or remain in New Hampshire.
Though eligible for parole for several years, Cobb - dubbed "the Pumpkin Man" by police after he was arrested carrying a knapsack filled with child pornography and a pumpkin mask - was repeatedly denied release by the state Parole Board. That's because of his refusal to enter court-ordered sex-offender treatment that would have required him to admit guilt, Lyons said.
And the level of his offenses does not qualify him for civil commitment under New Hampshire's new Child Protection Act, which lets authorities keep sex offenders incarcerated after they finish their sentences if they are found to be a danger to the community.
Cobb was arrested in 1995 in Farmington, N.H., not far from his summer home, with a 12-year-old boy. Cobb was wearing a T-shirt from a fictitious camp he called "Camp KYO" and carrying a knapsack filled with child pornography and a pumpkin mask.
Also contained in the knapsack was children's underwear, a payout list for "helping Pumpkin" and a Polaroid camera.
Prosecutors used the payout list, which included tasks such as "lotioning Pumpkin" and "assisting in urination," as evidence to make the case that Cobb was out to molest the boy.
Cobb was sentenced to at least 81/2 years for those charges. In 1997, Cobb pleaded guilty to charges brought by the state of Maine for unlawful sexual contact with a 12-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, which had happened in 1985. His Maine sentence ran concurrently with his New Hampshire prison sentence.
"In general terms, he was eligible for parole for several years, but he was denied by the Parole Board because he did not want to take the sex offender program," Lyons said. "The board has been very consistent with such decisions."
Lyons said he couldn't comment more specifically about whether Cobb has accepted any treatment or counseling during the past decade.
Recently, Cobb was flagged by corrections officials as a candidate for civil commitment following his prison sentence under the state's new Child Protection Act. The law allows prosecutors to ask a judge to keep a sex offender incarcerated because they pose a danger to the community.
"We did review his case," Strafford County Attorney Janice Rundles said. "I believe he was flagged because he didn't finish certain (prison) programs, but he had no qualifying crimes."
Rundles said if Cobb had been convicted of an actual assault in New Hampshire, then prosecutors may have been able to make a case for keeping him incarcerated. The Maine convictions didn't rise to a high enough offense to qualify under the protection act, she said.
Cobb will be released from the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility in Berlin, where he's been incarcerated in recent years.
Lyons, the prison spokesman, said prison officials can only notify prosecutors that inmates about to be released qualify for civil commitment. It's up to prosecutors to determine whether the inmate actually poses a threat to the public, he said.
"Once he maxes out his sentence, there's nothing more the department can do," Lyons said. "When Friday gets here, he gets to go home."
