Why Bella Bond’s biological father isn’t facing any charges
Joseph Amoroso told The Boston Globe that he knew more than a week ago that his young daughter Bella Bond had been killed, but he didn’t go to authorities. Someone else did.
Thanks to that person’s tip, the young girl’s mother, Rachelle Bond, has since been charged with accessory to murder, and Bond’s boyfriend Michael McCarthy has been charged with murder of the two-year-old girl.
Amoroso, though, was not charged with any crimes despite his decision not to inform authorities. The reason why, legal experts said, is that there generally aren’t legal punishments for keeping quiet.
“You’d have to show that he was trying to protect the mother by concealing the information she had given,’’ said Philip Tracy, a Boston defense attorney. “That would be hard to do.’’
Prosecutors have a few legal recourses to punish those who actively hurt an investigation, including obstruction of justice, giving false statements, or aiding and abetting a crime. But silence, such as from Amoroso in this case, generally isn’t grounds for criminal charges.
“It would stretch that statute to essentially transform silence into a criminal offense,’’ said Martin Weinberg, a Boston-based criminal defense attorney. “[It’s] hard to transform silence into a felony.’’
Amoroso, who lives in Florida, said he had never met Bella. He came to Massachusetts several weeks ago to finally see his daughter in person, but was rebuffed by Bond, who initially said Bella was off in Cape Cod.
Later, Rachelle Bond told him that McCarthy had murdered the young girl, Amoroso said. He told Boston.com that he and Bond planned to go to authorities. They took their time doing so, though.
“But we needed to spend time together as a family for what could be the last time,’’ Amoroso said outside of Dorchester Municipal Court on Monday, just before Bond and McCarthy were arraigned.
Tracy, the local attorney, said he thought prosecutors were trying to concentrate on the actual death of the child first and foremost.
Any legal charges for Amoroso would be in a “gray and murky area,’’ Tracy said. “I don’t think it rises to the level of criminal intent to conceal something at this point.’’
In court on Monday, prosecutors said that the tip that broke the case came from an unnamed friend of Bond’s. Still, Amoroso claimed his search for Bella in August helped crack the case.
“It took me to open the door looking for my daughter that opened a can of worms,’’ Amoroso said.
Photos: The Baby Bella case.
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