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Mistrial declared in Ciampa sex case

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | Mar 29, 2019

NASHUA – James Ciampa, the 69-year-old man who allegedly stored child sexual abuse images on video tapes, saw his case end in a mistrial on Thursday, apparently due to being taken to a hospital sometime before proceedings were to begin.

“Mr. Ciampa wasn’t in court (Thursday) morning, his lawyer filed a motion for a mistrial, and that motion was granted,” Hillsborough County Superior Court-South clerk Marshall Buttrick said.

Ciampa’s son, David Ciampa, said later Thursday that after his father didn’t show up in court, his attorney, Roger “Rusty” Chadwick, notified police and met them at Ciampa’s Nashua residence.

Police were able to gain access to the home, where they found Ciampa and made arrangements for him to be transported to a local hospital.

It wasn’t immediately known what condition Ciampa was in, or what symptoms he had. But Dave Ciampa said he believes his father may have attempted suicide by taking an overdose of medications.

Buttrick said Chadwick “immediately filed for a mistrial,” which Judge Jacalyn Colburn subsequently granted.

James Ciampa’s condition wasn’t known as of later Thursday. His son said despite what was alleged to be an overdose by his father, “all his vitals (vital signs) were good” at the hospital.

Chadwick, Ciampa’s attorney, didn’t comment in detail on the development, but said he “would ask for privacy for Mr. Ciampa and his family.”

As of noon Thursday, there were no new entries in Ciampa’s case file, which had been returned to the clerk’s office at that time. David Ciampa said he believes proceedings for a new trial will be held sometime in June.

David Ciampa, who has two older siblings, said they have become increasingly estranged from their father during time, beginning well before the child pornography-possession allegations surfaced in early 2016.

David Ciampa said he first discovered his father’s alleged collection of child sexual abuse images when he picked up a small video camera known as a “high-8” type of camcorder his father kept on a table next to his computer.

After allegedly seeing child pornography on the camera’s viewer, Ciampa said he kept what he saw to himself, but soon “decided to talk to him about it.”

He said he told his father to “get ride of it … bring it to the dump, burn it,” David Ciampa said, recalling his father telling him not to worry about it.

But several months later, when he allegedly “found a bunch more” images, David Ciampa said he told his brother of his discovery.

The two went to police, triggering an investigation that led to James Ciampa’s arrest in mid-April 2016.

He was later indicted on 20 counts of possession of child sexual abuse images, but went to trial on 10 of those counts. The other 10 were dropped by agreement of the attorneys.

David Ciampa said he “felt it was time to go to the cops” about his father’s alleged collection, adding that concerns over “him bringing that stuff into the house” could put his mother and anyone else living there at risk.

Looking back, he said he feels confident he gave his father “every opportunity to get help,” although acknowledging “it’s tough to get help when you’re (allegedly) a pedophile.”

Meanwhile, Ciampa said Thursday’s developments illustrate “what this (case) has been about” almost from the start.

“Delays … delayed proceedings, over and over again,” he said. “Now (the trial), has been postponed until June,” he said, predicting that “when we get there, (the trial) will be delayed again.”

He also rejected the notion his father is incompetent to stand trial, an issue that was brought up sometime last year.

“He’s competent. He’s just playing games,” David Ciampa said. “He is not a disabled old man.”

But Chadwick challenged those assertions, saying he filed the motion to evaluate James Ciampa’s competency “after receiving many, many letters from his extended family and others who know him” voicing “their concerns about his mental state.

“Any suggestion that this is a ruse on his part is not only unfair to Jim. It contradicts hundreds of pages” of medical records, Chadwick said. “Jim is a Vietnam veteran, a disabled veteran, and I’ve been working closely with the VA on his behalf,” he added, referring to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com, or @Telegraph_DeanS.

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