IPSWICH — He made her nervous as he walked among the beachgoers on that late September afternoon at the southern tip of Plum Island, the woman told investigators.
She felt like he was watching her, she said.
So the woman decided to go for a run along the water's edge, not expecting the middle-aged man wearing jeans and work boots to follow her.
But he did.
Yesterday, Scott Gagnon, 51, of Tewksbury, a man who spent 27 years in prison and a state hospital for a series of rapes in the late 1970s, pleaded guilty in Salem Superior Court to attempted rape and indecent assault and battery.
Under the terms of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison for the attempted rape, followed by 20 years of probation on the indecent assault and battery charge, and lifetime community parole supervision.
Gagnon won't be eligible for parole until he is 71, five years later than he would have if he'd received a life sentence, under Massachusetts law.
He could also remain in custody after completing his sentence, however, if he's determined to be a sexually dangerous person, a designation he had for years while in custody for the earlier rapes.
Gagnon's own attorney, Carol Cahill, acknowledged as much yesterday.
"Mr. Gagnon, in all likelihood, is never going to be free again," Cahill said.
Judge John Lu also ordered that Gagnon have no contact with the woman.
Prosecutor Gerald Shea described to the judge the details of what happened on the afternoon of Sept. 28 at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, a seven-mile stretch of wilderness with hiking trails and beaches that stretches from Newbury to Ipswich.
The woman had gone to the southern end of the island, and was on the beach at the Sandy Point State Reservation in Ipswich when she first noticed Gagnon.
He stood out because of his attire, dressed more like a construction worker than a typical visitor to the refuge, Shea said.
As he walked around, he was making her uncomfortable, Shea said. She realized that he was watching her.
So the woman went into a bathroom and changed into some running clothes, then started jogging on the wet sand. As she looked over her shoulder, she quickly realized that Gagnon was following behind her.
After a while Gagnon moved up toward the road and seemed to disappear. The woman kept running, about two miles, Shea said.
Then, suddenly, Gagnon appeared again, trying to start a conversation. He asked her about the temperature of the water. She kept running.
Moments later, she felt someone come up fast behind her. Gagnon grabbed her around the chest and threw her to the ground.
The woman screamed and resisted as waves of water broke over them. She was able to break away and began running. Gagnon ran, too, in the opposite direction.
A father and his daughter who were planning to spend the afternoon surfcasting on the island happened to drive by and the woman flagged them down, Shea said.
That driver, Jeffrey Shaw, told police that the woman was "terrified." He called for help and drove her to the main gate of the refuge, where police were waiting.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer at the parking lot at the end of the island had spotted and detained Gagnon.
Gagnon claimed he'd been jogging on the beach, and the woman was "in his way," so he "just grabbed her to move her out of his way."
Gagnon was convicted of raping a woman in 1980 and later pleaded guilty to raping or trying to rape four others in Amesbury and Haverhill. He received a 20- to 30-year prison term for those rapes, which, like the incident in September, involved women Gagnon did not know.
He tried repeatedly to get out of prison, but was repeatedly turned down, including one try that went to the Supreme Judicial Court. In their 1994 decision, the court pointed to Gagnon's admission that he had raped at least 20 other women, for which he was never charged.
By 2007, however, a panel of experts at Bridgewater State Hospital decided that Gagnon was no longer sexually dangerous, and a judge allowed his release.
Just four days before the Plum Island incident, Gagnon was one of 40 men swept up by police in a Haverhill prostitution sting. He was released after agreeing to pay a fine in the case.
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