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Some Question Bail In Shefelbine Case

Prosecutors To Ask Judge To Deny Bail

POSTED: 6:41 pm EDT June 28, 2007
UPDATED: 7:54 pm EDT June 28, 2007

A Tolland man charged several times with preying on underage girls could see more jail time before court.

Prosecutors said they plan to ask a judge next week to put Scott Shefelbine in jail without bail.

State victim advocate Jim Papillo applauded the prosecutors' move to try to revoke Shefelbine's bond. Shefelbine, 32, is accused of multiple crimes involving teens he met via the Internet.

"This individual is clearly a predator," Papillo said.

However, Papillo said he wonders why Shefelbine's family was even allowed to post bond and bail him out following his latest arrest last week.

"He's obviously thumbing his nose at the system they've set very certain conditions. He can't abide by them and so in the interest of public safety alone the system ought to bring him in," Papillo said. "He's out, and what guarantee does the public have that he's not going to turn around again and continue to violate the terms of his release?"

Papillo said he is curious if the General Assembly has written strong enough laws for cases like this.

East Haven Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-District 99, who co-chairs the Joint Legislative Judiciary, said the Legislature passed a law for just this purpose 17 years ago.

"In talking to prosecutors and judges over the years, for some reason, they're very reluctant to use this statute. It's perfectly constitutional, there's a federal and Supreme Court case saying this is constitutional, it has been on our books for 17 years and I wish they would use it more," Lawlor said. "This is the kind of case that sort of illustrates why there's a need for this."

Papillo said he believes judges may be afraid to use this law because it could be challenged, resulted in cases being thrown out. He suggested that lawmakers can make the law clearer that judges have the right to enforce it.

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