State officials say they’ll appeal, after a panel of judges approved releasing serial rapist Thomas Duvall to community housing under intense surveillance. State Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper says, “I agree with three of the testifying experts in the case, that Duvall is an exceptional risk to public safety and shouldn’t be released to the community at this time.” The judges concluded 62-year-old Duvall, convicted of three sexual assaults of teenage girls in the 1970s and ’80s, had made significant progress in treatment, but Piper says it’s not safe to release him.
More in this interview with Piper: