UPDATED: Convicted Pedophile Gardner and Wife Kicked Out of Hotel on Federal Hill
GoLocalProv News Team
UPDATED: Convicted Pedophile Gardner and Wife Kicked Out of Hotel on Federal Hill
"[Gardner] and his wife checked in tonight,” said Gianfranco Marrocco, owner of the Hotel Dolce Villa on Federal Hill in Providence, on Sunday.
Marrocco provided the photos of the licenses that Gardner and his wife used to check in — before he asked them to leave when he discovered them on the premises.
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Marrocco noted that his children spend time at the hotel.
“They should put right there on their licenses ‘child molester’ like a scarlet letter,” said Marrocco.
In 1988, Gardner kidnapped a boy in Warwick and sexually assaulted him on a ball field. That same day, he abducted a boy from a Warwick library and sexually assaulted him. Gardner, at the time of the two assaults, was on bail awaiting sentencing in Massachusetts for kidnapping and raping another child in the woods.
Gardner was released from the Massachusetts prison system in October 2018 after serving nearly 30 years.
No Threats According to Cranston
On Sunday night, Cranston Police Chief Colonel Michael J. Winquist told GoLocal, "I am unaware of any death threats made against Mr. Gardner while residing in Cranston."
Richard Gardner's license used to register at the hotel did not reflect his actual address.
"There is no law in R.I. specific to sex offenders having a current address on their driver's license. All persons in R.I. by law have 10 days to notify R.I. DMV of a change of address. If a driver is stopped and found not to have their current address on their license, they could receive a traffic ticket (civil violation). As a registered sex offender, according to R.I. law, Mr. Gardner is required to notify the local police department when he leaves a jurisdiction and notify the police department where he will be moving to within 24 hours of arriving in that city or town," said Winquist.
The Cranston Police had reported Saturday that they executed a “court-authorized search warrant at 12 Old Park Avenue in furtherance of a child pornography investigation.”
According to Cranston Police
“A search warrant for the body of Richard Gardner was also served while inside aforementioned location. These search warrants were obtained after members of the Cranston Police Department received information alleging child pornography was being stored at the location and in Richard Gardner’s possession and control.”
“A cellular telephone, digital media storage device, and documents were seized and are currently being forensically analyzed with the assistance of the RI State Police. Mr. Gardner has not been arrested or charged with a crime at this time and should be presumed innocent.”