Sex abuse suspect a convicted sex offender

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WAKEFIELD, Mass., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A Wakefield, Mass., man accused of raping and abusing toddlers was a low-level sex offender with three previous convictions, court records said.

John Burbine, 49, will be arraigned next week on charges he sexually assaulted 13 children ranging in age from 8 days to 3 years, many of them repeatedly, in a two-year span beginning in 2010 through his wife's unlicensed day care center. The abuse allegations involve 100 counts that include forcible rape and indecent assault, the Boston Globe reported Friday.

His wife, Marian, was apparently unaware of the alleged abuse, officials said, but knew he was a convicted sex offender with three convictions in 1989 involving indecent assault and battery on a child.

John Burbine was assigned "Level 1" status as a sexual offender, for those considered least likely to commit additional sex offenses, the newspaper said.

The new charges against him include allegations he videotaped the alleged assaults, compiling hundreds of hours of footage.

"I've never seen a case this bad," said Middlesex County, Mass., District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. at a press conference Thursday. "The basis for these indictments is chilling."

William J. Barabino, John Burbine's attorney, said his client will plead not guilty at the arraignment.