MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 23.0
The plaintiff, John Doe, appeals from a Superior Court judgment that affirmed his final classification by the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) as a level two sex offender. Because we discern no error in the SORB hearing examiners weighing of the relevant factors or in her conclusion that Internet dissemination of Does sex offender registry information served a public safety interest, we affirm.
1. Discussion. a. Standard of review. “A reviewing court may set aside or modify SORBs classification decision where it determines that the decision is in excess of SORBs statutory authority or jurisdiction, violates constitutional provisions, is based on an error of law, or is not supported by substantial evidence.” Doe, Sex Offender Registry Bd. No. 496501 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 482 Mass. 643, 649 (2019) (Doe No. 496501), citing G. L. c. 30A, § 14 (7). “Substantial evidence is such evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Doe, Sex Offender Registry Bd. No. 10800 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 459 Mass. 603, 632 (2011), quoting G. L. c. 30A, § 1 (6). “We give due weight to the experience, technical competence, and specialized knowledge of the agency, as well as to the discretionary authority conferred upon it” (quotation and citation omitted). Doe, Sex Offender Registry Bd. No. 523391 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 95 Mass. App. Ct. 85, 88 (2019).
b. Weight of factors 7 and 19. Doe argues that the hearing examiner abused her discretion in weighing factors 7 (relationship between offender and victim) and 19 (level of physical contact). To support a level two sex offender classification, SORB must prove “by clear and convincing evidence, that (1) the offenders risk of reoffense is moderate; (2) the offenders dangerousness is moderate; and (3) a public safety interest is served by Internet publication of the offenders registry information.” Doe, Sex Offender Registry Bd. No. 23656 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 483 Mass. 131, 138 (2019) (Doe No. 23656), quoting Doe No. 496501, 482 Mass. at 656. Whether to apply a given statutory or regulatory factor and, if so, the weight to be accorded to that factor are questions within the hearing examiners discretion. See Doe, Sex Offender Registry Bd. No. 68549 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 470 Mass. 102, 109-110 (2014).
Here, the hearing examiner applied factor 7 (relationship between offender and victim) with “greater weight.” In support of this determination, the examiner found that Doe was in a “position of trust” with the victim at the time of the sexual assault because Doe had been the victims cello instructor, music director, and “mentor” the summer before committing the index offenses against the child victim (child), and he had continued to socialize with the child and the childs family in the interim. The examiner also noted that the risk of reoffense and degree of dangerousness posed by Doe were elevated because the child was an “extrafamilial victim.” Accordingly, the examiners application of “greater weight” to this risk-elevating factor was supported by the evidence. We are not persuaded that in the circumstances, Does trust relationship with the child terminated with the conclusion of Does role as the childs music instructor and theater supervisor, or that the hearing examiner misapplied factor 7.
As to factor 19, the hearing examiner found that it applied because Doe penetrated the childs vagina digitally and with his tongue.
1
Accordingly, the hearing examiner applied this factor “regarding dangerousness,” and implicitly limited the weight she gave to it based on the lack of penile penetration involved in Does sexual assault on the child.
2
We are not persuaded by Does contention that in her assessment of the evidence relevant to this factor, the hearing examiner failed to consider a study that Doe submitted. First, the examiners findings explicitly state that she did consider the article. Second, to the extent that Doe challenges the weight ascribed by the hearing examiner to that article,
3
we discern no abuse of discretion. This is because the article focused on sex offenders risk of recidivism, while factor 19 explicitly goes to an offenders dangerousness -- even if the examiner gave the article no weight, her decision was not an abuse of discretion. See Doe No. 23656, 483 Mass. at 135 n.4; 803 Code Mass. Regs. § 1.33(19)(a) (2016).
Does challenge to the level two classification is not persuasive where the hearing examiner made an evenhanded assessment of the evidence. On the one hand, the examiner found that one high-risk factor applied where Doe offended as an adult against a child victim (factor 3), the risk of reoffense and the level of dangerousness were elevated by the trust relationship between Doe and his extrafamilial victim (factor 7), and Does physical contact with the child increased Does dangerousness (factor 19). Against this, the hearing examiner considered in mitigation Does period of postincarceration probation supervision (factor 28), the possibility that Doe might establish a stable and supportive home situation if he were permitted to leave Massachusetts after his release from prison (factors 33 and 34), and (to the extent it was consistent with the Boards regulations) research bearing on recidivism and dangerousness among sex offenders (factor 37). The hearing examiners findings were supported by the evidence and reflected the examiners qualitative assessment of the relevant regulatory factors; the “examiner did not merely list these factors,” but instead “provided a detailed account of the evidence she considered and an explanation of the relative weight that she assigned each factor.” Doe No. 23656, 483 Mass. at 143. Considered together, the statutory and regulatory risk factors established that Doe presented a moderate risk of reoffense and a moderate degree of dangerousness. See Doe, Sex Offender Registry Bd. No. 136652 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 81 Mass. App. Ct. 639, 651 (2012) (no error where sex offenders classification based on “a sound exercise of informed discretion rather than the mechanical application of a checklist”). See also Doe No. 23656, supra at 138-139.
c. Internet dissemination. After applying the statutory and regulatory factors to the facts of Does case, the hearing examiner properly moved on to the third and final step of the classification process: determination of the need for Internet publication of Does sex offender registry information. See Doe No. 496501, 482 Mass. at 654, citing 803 Code Mass. Regs. § 1.20(2) (2016). In making her assessment, the examiner properly considered “whether, in light of the particular risks posed by the particular offender, Internet access to that offenders information might realistically serve to protect the public against the risk of the offenders sexual reoffense.” Doe No. 496501, supra, at 655. As reflected in her written decision, the examiner found that Does index offense was committed against a child, involved penetration of the childs vagina with Does fingers and tongue, and was effected by Does exploitation of a trust relationship with the victim. She also took into account Does plans to leave Massachusetts if permitted to do so and the five-year term of his probation (and, inferentially, its attendant conditions) after his release from prison. Against that backdrop, the hearing examiner determined that Internet publication of Does sex offender information would serve the interest of public safety by alerting parents to the need to protect their children from forming the “trusting relationship[s]” with Doe that he exploited in committing the index offenses. We discern no error in this conclusion and affirm Does classification as a level two sex offender.
Judgment affirmed.
FOOTNOTES
1
. The hearing examiner also found that Doe licked the childs breasts, but did not include that finding in the discussion of factor 19.
2
. When describing the governing sex offense, the hearing officer found that the child refused Does request that the child put Does penis in the childs mouth.
3
. The hearing examiner noted that as to the articles Doe submitted, “I give those articles appropriate weight in consideration of the superintendence of the Boards regulations ․ and accordingly, only to the extent the findings are consistent with those regulations.”