Child's Killing Spurs Outrage

Last night, less than a full day after police dive teams recovered the body of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley from a Maine river, more than 600 friends, neighbors and concerned citizens crowded into Curley's Cambridge school to question school, police and local officials and try to come to terms with the tragedy.

The discussion at the Harrington School ranged from tense exchanges of anger to emotional expressions of guilt and remorse.

Many speakers said the crime could be used to galvanize public support for the death penalty. Outside the auditorium, amid the glare of lights of television news cameras, hundreds of audience members signed a petition calling for capital punishment in Massachusetts.

Addressing the crowd at the beginning of the meeting, Middlesex Country District Attorney Tom F. Reilly said the crime had left the entire city searching for answers.

"There are simply no answers to explain...or to understand this," he said. "I think [the Curley family] is an inspiration to us all."

Prosecutors contend two men, 21-year-old Salvatore Sicari and 22-year-old Charles Jaynes, Kidnapped Curley from right near his grandmother's home in East Cambridge, and then murdered him, dumping his body in the Piscataqua River near the New Hampshire-Maine border.

When notified that her son's body was discovered, Barbara Curley told the Associated Press that Jeffrey was "sacrificed just like Jesus," and that his death would bring about a change.

Sicari was arraigned at the Newton District Court last Friday, charged with murder and kidnapping.

Jaynes was arraigned yesterday morning and is also charged with murder and kidnapping, said Diane McDonald, a spokesperson for the District Attorney's office. Jayne's first pre-trial hearing is set for Nov. 6, she said.

Both suspects pleaded innocent to the crimes.

The graphic details of the crime were revealed by prosecutors at the suspects' hearings.

Police say the two men tried to lure Jeffrey into having sex with them in exchange for a bicycle and money. The boy refused, but police say Jaynes suffocated him.

The two men then dumped the body into the river near the two states' border, police said.

Early this morning divers found Jeffrey's body "in a four-by two-foot container, wrapped in duct tape," said Cambridge Police Commissioner Ronnie Watson.

Investigators found pornographic material and literature from the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) in Jayne's Cadillac.

The organization advocates the abolition of age-of-consent laws, which prohibit adults from having sex with minors.

Much of last night's discussion focused on NAMBLA.

"We should ban the group from Massachusetts entirely," said the Rev. Doug Whitlow, a candidate for the Cambridge City Council.

After angry parents condemned the group, Dr. Timothy F. Dugan, a psychiatrist at Cambridge Hospital, told the crowd that in his opinion, "NAMBLA does not equal homosexuality," he said.

"That's nonsense," a member of the crowd screamed out.

Speaking later, the man said he "Can't send my son to the corner candy store without a two-way radio. I don't feel safe," he said.

"My son can't go off on the same adventures I did."

"I'm so ashamed to be an American right now," he said. He then left the meeting with his young son.

Other speakers pressed Cambridge Mayor Sheila Doyle Russell and police officials on the issue of safety in general.

Chandra M. Shimizu, 20, who said she spends most of her time with teenagers in East Cambridge, said the city does not do enough to protect its younger citizens.

"You say you want us off the streets," Shimizu said.

"You build us teen centers. Our main concerns [are the streets] from our homes to the teen center...and back home."

"I want to know how you're going to protect us," she said.

In an interview with The Crimson, Russell said tragic incidents like this were rare.

"[Cambridge] is as safe as any other city this size," she said.

Drucilla M. Whiting, 17, said she knew one of the suspects.

"I knew [Sicari]. He was one of us. And he killed a baby boy," she said.

"It's only going to get worse and no one's going to do anything about that."

Dugan, who was moderating the event, then approached Whiting and told her he "honestly didn't know" how the city would use its resources differently to protect children.

"I feel hopeless," Whiting said.

The crowd reacted emotionally when a student read a classmate's poem to Jeffrey.

"He was our son, our brother, our friend. Only time will help our hearts to mend," the student read.

School and city officials said a variety of counseling and support options are available for students who want them and officials have scheduled more meetings in the coming weeks and months.

--Material from The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.

The organization advocates the abolition of age-of-consent laws, which prohibit adults from having sex with minors.

Much of last night's discussion focused on NAMBLA.

"We should ban the group from Massachusetts entirely," said the Rev. Doug Whitlow, a candidate for the Cambridge City Council.

After angry parents condemned the group, Dr. Timothy F. Dugan, a psychiatrist at Cambridge Hospital, told the crowd that in his opinion, "NAMBLA does not equal homosexuality," he said.

"That's nonsense," a member of the crowd screamed out.

Speaking later, the man said he "Can't send my son to the corner candy store without a two-way radio. I don't feel safe," he said.

"My son can't go off on the same adventures I did."

"I'm so ashamed to be an American right now," he said. He then left the meeting with his young son.

Other speakers pressed Cambridge Mayor Sheila Doyle Russell and police officials on the issue of safety in general.

Chandra M. Shimizu, 20, who said she spends most of her time with teenagers in East Cambridge, said the city does not do enough to protect its younger citizens.

"You say you want us off the streets," Shimizu said.

"You build us teen centers. Our main concerns [are the streets] from our homes to the teen center...and back home."

"I want to know how you're going to protect us," she said.

In an interview with The Crimson, Russell said tragic incidents like this were rare.

"[Cambridge] is as safe as any other city this size," she said.

Drucilla M. Whiting, 17, said she knew one of the suspects.

"I knew [Sicari]. He was one of us. And he killed a baby boy," she said.

"It's only going to get worse and no one's going to do anything about that."

Dugan, who was moderating the event, then approached Whiting and told her he "honestly didn't know" how the city would use its resources differently to protect children.

"I feel hopeless," Whiting said.

The crowd reacted emotionally when a student read a classmate's poem to Jeffrey.

"He was our son, our brother, our friend. Only time will help our hearts to mend," the student read.

School and city officials said a variety of counseling and support options are available for students who want them and officials have scheduled more meetings in the coming weeks and months.

--Material from The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.