Plea deal reached for William Clasby

Facing multiple counts of indecent assault and battery on a person with intellectual disability and rape, Blackstone man pleads guilty to one count of assault and battery.

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William Clasby in court today waiting to change his plea to guilty. - Barry Stringfellow

Monday morning in Dukes County Superior Court, William Clasby gave up his right to a jury trial on six counts of rape and five counts of assault and battery on a person with intellectual disability in exchange for a guilty plea of one count of assault and battery.

He was sentenced by Judge Gary Nickerson to three years of probation and ordered to have no contact with the victim.

“If you do not live up to the terms of your probation you can be sent away for two and a half years,” Judge Nickerson told Mr. Clasby.

Defense attorney William Korman and Assistant District Attorney Michael Patterson negotiated the plea bargain.

The charges stemmed from a two-year relationship Mr. Clasby, 52, had with a cognitively impaired 24-year-old woman. The woman worked at a store where Mr. Clasby delivered magazines. Mr. Clasby acknowledged one instance where he took the woman to the Cow Bay area on State Beach and engaged in “offensive touching.”

“When someone is older than 14, touching is deemed offensive when it is against someone’s personal dignity, as opposed to ‘harmful touching,’ which is injurious to that person,” Judge Nickerson said.

Mr. Patterson told the court that testing showed the victim to have a I.Q. of 79 and the cognitive development of a 14 year old.

Mr. Korman said his client was unaware of the victim’s I.Q. until Mr. Patterson told the court.

Judge Nickerson allowed a stipulation that Mr. Clasby could travel to North Carolina for work, which he said is “rehabbing houses.” He was ordered to report to his probation officer in Fall River on Tuesday morning.

“The potential impact a trial would have on the victim has a lot to do with how the case was resolved,” Lt. Chris Dolby, who supervised the investigation, told The Times.