Paroled Rapist Living With Danvers Philanthropist

DANVERS, MA — A convicted rapist who was released from prison Wednesday will live with a Danvers philanthropist.

Benjamin LaGuer, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1984 after being convicted of raping his 59-year-old neighbor in Leominster, has terminal liver cancer. LaGuer has maintained he was wrongfully convicted even after a 2002 DNA test further linked him to the crime.

LaGuer lives at 10 North Street in Danvers, according to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board. That is the address of John Archer, a philanthropist who has long supported LaGuer and said he could live in the home in a letter to the parole board in 2018.

According to his parole plan, LaGuer said he would live with a Danvers resident experienced in Hospice Care.

An attorney for LaGuer declined comment. Archer was not immediately available for comment Friday morning.

Appeals courts have upheld LaGuer's conviction, including a 2007 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Prior to the 2002 DNA test, LaGuer drew support from high profile state leaders, including former Gov. Deval Patrick, who wrote letters to the state Parole Board and donated money for the DNA test. Other supporters included the late Boston University President John Silber and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and Deval Patrick.

Archer owns an insurance company and has raised money for a wide range of nonprofits on the North Shore. While Patrick and other supporters distanced themselves from the case after the 2002 DNA test, Archer continued to advocate for LaGuer. In his letter to the parole board, Archer said he had met LaGuer through Silber.

According to the state parole board, LaGuer's release includes stipulations that he wear an electronic monitoring device and abide by a curfew.