Two convicted rapists from region died of COVID-19 in prison
Two New London County men convicted of sexually assaulting young girls have died due to COVID-19 complications while serving their prison sentences.
Edward Allen, 74, who had lived in Groton and Pawcatuck, was convicted of three counts of first-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a minor in 2011. He had remained free on a $250,000 bond until 2013 while appealing his conviction, which called for serving 13 years in prison.
He died in May 2020 at the UConn Health Center, according to Connecticut Mirror reporting sourced from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Department of Correction. Allen was a retired welder who had been employed at Electric Boat, according to public records.
Gary Elston, 69, who had lived in Waterford and Groton, was serving a 12-year sentence stemming from charges of sexual assault and injury/risk of injury to a child. In 2015 he turned himself in on a warrant that charged he had sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl.
Thus far, 19 Connecticut inmates have died due to the coronavirus, 12 of them since November 2020, according to the DOC. The DOC announced six inmate deaths from COVID-19 in January, five in December and one in November.
While the DOC puts out news releases when an inmate dies, the inmate’s name is not included. However, by cross-referencing the dates of death, offenses and other information included in the bare-bones, boilerplate releases, their identities can be discerned.
“A 74-year-old male is the sixth offender under the supervision off the Connecticut Department of Correction to pass away from complications related to the novel coronavirus. Due to medical privacy laws, the names of the individuals are not being released,” the DOC's release about Allen read. “The deceased individual was transferred from the Osborn Correctional Institution to a local hospital for treatment on April 23, 2020. He succumbed to his illness on Tuesday, May 5, 2020. He last entered the Connecticut correctional system on May 21, 2013, and was serving a 13-year sentence for Sexual Assault in the First Degree – with a victim under the age of 13.”
The release notes that Allen’s maximum release date was April 2025. His death followed the deaths of two other inmates the day before.
The latest release about an inmate’s death, from Jan. 25, says that the DOC is preparing to vaccinate its staff and inmate populations, and that the death “underscores the importance of getting vaccinated.”
Allen's case was a high-profile one. In 2011, he was sentenced in New London Superior Court for performing deviant sexual acts on a 7-year-old girl who lived in his former Groton neighborhood. The survivor disclosed the sexual assaults four years before Allen’s sentencing when her mother told her that Allen was coming to visit the family. He had reportedly taken the family in during a difficult time in 2000.
The ensuing investigation led town police to another witness, a 27-year-old woman who had lived in Allen’s Groton neighborhood and said he had also sexually assaulted her years earlier. Allen was not charged in connection with the older woman's complaint because the statute of limitations had expired. The victims didn't know each other, but both were familiar with pornographic videos and devices in Allen's bedroom, and both were willing to describe them in excruciating detail in open court.
The testimonies were, according to Day reporting at the time, viscerally emotional.
“During the trial, not just one weeping young woman, but two, took the witness stand and pointed at Allen to identify him as her attacker,” according to a 2011 report published in The Day. Prosecutors David J. Smith and Christa L. Baker telephoned the younger victim's mother with the verdict as soon as court adjourned.
The parents of the older woman were in the courtroom to hear the verdict convicting Allen.
“The mother cried and hugged Baker. The father, who had glared coldly at Allen throughout the trial, smiled broadly,” the story read. “The couple said Allen had ruined their daughter's life to the extent that they are now raising her two children. They said they hope he spent the rest of his life in prison.”
“‘Now I know my grandchildren will be safe from him,’ the mother said.”
Allen had refused a plea bargain when a state’s attorney offered him a deal that involved just a few years in prison. His final sentence wound up being much longer.
“It could be a life sentence for the 65-year-old Allen, though his attorneys have said there would be an appeal,” the 2011 story read.
The DOC news release about Elston’s death states that he died due to complications from the coronavirus.
“The 69-year-old male had been transferred from the Agency’s MacDougall Walker Medical Isolation Unit to an outside hospital for treatment on December 15, 2020, where he succumbed to his illnesses on Tuesday morning, December 22, 2020,” the statement reads.
“He last entered the Connecticut correctional system in October of 2015, and was serving a 12-year sentence for Sexual Assault in the First Degree, and Injury or Risk of Injury to a Minor.”
Elston’s maximum release date was April 2027. He wasn’t eligible for parole until this April.
“I would be lying if I said that hearing this bad news was not disheartening, but it only strengthens my resolve to continue the Agency’s fight to combat the spread of this virus,” said Commissioner Designate Angel Quiros in the December release. “My condolences go out to his family.”
“The inmate death comes as the Department, the State and the nation at large grapple with the height of the second wave of the pandemic,” the statement concludes.
