Washington, D.C – A longtime radio disc jockey who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy and who was accused of sexually abusing several others was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison. Mark Parenteau, 54, who was a rock broadcaster in Boston for two decades and more recently a programming director for D.C.-based XM Satellite radio, was accused of enticing vulnerable youths to his home in Northwest Washington with alcohol, drugs and money in exchange for sex.
Prosecutors said that Parenteau, who is white, was attracted to black youths and that he sought them out through a support group for gay minority youth, who can be estranged from their families and living on the street. At his home in the 1400 block of Swann Street NW, he and the youths, ages 14 to 16, would smoke marijuana, drink and have sex, prosecutors said.
The activities took place from March 2001 until April 2003, prosecutors said.
In a telephone interview, the mother of one of the youths, who is now 18, said that she was glad Parenteau was brought to justice but that the sentence was too light.
“He scarred my child and other children, and that’s something they’re going to have to deal with the rest of their lives,” she said.
Parenteau pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree sexual abuse for an incident involving a 14-year-old in May or June 2002. He originally faced an 18-count indictment. Had he been convicted of all charges, Parenteau could have been sentenced to life in prison. But in January, with a trial looming and the government concerned about some inconsistencies in the youths’ accounts, both sides reached a plea agreement in D.C. Superior Court.
Many facts in the case remained in dispute, and this week the two sides crafted a statement detailing what they had agreed upon. Along with admitting that he sexually abused the 14-year-old youth and that he had youths over for sexual conduct, Parenteau admitted that he had told three of his neighbors of his sexual exploits with the boys — statements that he maintains were not true.
Parenteau could have faced up to eight years in prison, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Marcus-Kurn sought the maximum penalty. Parenteau and his attorney, Kathleen E. Voelker, urged Judge Patricia A. Broderick to sentence him to probation, saying that addiction to alcohol and marijuana had led him into irresponsible behavior.
“I want to make amends,” Parenteau told the judge. “I want to stay sober . . . want to pick up the pieces. . . . I’m truly sorry for the entire affair, and I hope I can prove to the court that I am a responsible person.”
The judge said probation would not be sufficient, adding that as a recovering addict, Parenteau should have known to stay away from the substances that had tripped him up earlier in life. Instead, the judge said, he used the charisma that served him so well in entertainment to harm children.
“You used the gift that you have in a negative way,” Broderick said.
Parenteau has been free on his own recognizance. At his attorney’s request, he was allowed a week to put his affairs in order before reporting to begin serving his sentence, which will be followed by three years’ supervised release.