The school community gathered Friday morning on the school's front lawn.
ADAMS, Mass. — On Friday morning the Hoosac Valley Elementary School community gathered on the school's lawn to welcome the school's first sign.
Nearly seven years ago, Cheshire Elementary School and CT Plunkett Elementary School joined together to become Hoosac Valley Elementary School. After the closing of Cheshire Elementary School, the school district voted to rename CT Plunkett as Hoosac Valley Elementary School.
"At HVES, we share the importance of identity and belonging in every classroom as part of our Responsive Classroom approach," Principal Erin Beaulac said in a statement Friday. "Every student is called by their name and everyone is a part of our community. With that being said, we felt it was very important for our school's exterior to match our school's interior. There hasn't been a sign of the school's name on the outside of the building. This morning, all of that changed."
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Adams Man Sentenced to State, Federal Prison for Child Rape
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — An Adams man pleaded guilty on Friday in Berkshire Superior Court to multiple counts of aggravated rape of a child and aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.
Brian Warner, 39, was sentenced by Judge Michael K. Callan to 25 to 28 years in state prison.
The defendant pleaded guilty to the following:
Two counts of rape of a child with force
One count of aggravated rape of a child
Two counts of rape of a child, aggravated, five-year age difference
Four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14
Fourteen counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under 14
Nine counts of posing a child in the nude
Two counts of possession of child sexual abuse material
Callan attributed the lengthy sentencing to the egregious nature of the defendant's crime. In his sentencing memo, the judge wrote, "In fashioning this sentence I have also considered the Sentencing Guidelines, which were established by a Sentencing Commission created by our Legislature and consisting of prosecutors, defense counsel, public safety and correctional officials, and victim-witness advocates.
"While not mandatory, these guidelines were designed, among other goals, to promote consistency in the sentencing process in our judicial system. The guidelines utterly fail in some circumstances and this is one of them."
Warner produced child sexual abuse material, otherwise known as child pornography. In doing this, the defendant raped and assaulted a child over a period of two years. Law enforcement uncovered hundreds of images produced by Warner.
"Justice was served today, but Warner's crimes are deeply disturbing. When a child in our community is harmed, it naturally causes us to reflect on how we can do more to protect our children. To the survivor and their [singular] family, this outcome cannot undo the trauma you endured; however, I hope it offers some comfort in knowing that your abuser has been held accountable under the law," stated District Attorney Timothy Shugrue.
Chief of the Child Abuse Unit Andrew Giarolo, an assistant district attorney, represented the commonwealth and Ian Benoit the victim witness advocate on behalf of the DA's Office. The Adams Police Department led the investigation with support from the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit's digital evidence lab.
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