Longtime Democrat Powerbroker Charged with Disturbing Crimes

A Massachusetts Democratic insider with deep party ties is facing horrifying charges—including child rape—and the party is scrambling to cut him loose.

Robert J. LeBlanc, 80, a former deputy legal counsel for the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee and a longtime party member, has been indicted for child rape and four other sex crime charges involving minors. Despite the disturbing allegations, LeBlanc walked out of Essex Superior Court free—released on personal recognizance.

He pleaded not guilty to one count of child rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and two counts involving victims over 14. The indictment was handed down by an Essex County grand jury on March 31. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 20.

LeBlanc’s lawyer, Gerard LaFlamme, is keeping quiet. LeBlanc himself has not commented, ignoring media requests.

Democrats Try to Hide the Fallout

After the charges came to light, Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Steve Kerrigan quietly demanded LeBlanc’s resignation. He got it—just days after the indictment became public. A party spokesperson, Matthew Wilder, tried to downplay LeBlanc’s role.

“He hasn’t been involved much for many years,” Wilder said, distancing the committee from the disgraced operative.

But LeBlanc’s fingerprints are all over Massachusetts Democratic politics. He joined the committee in 2002 and served as deputy legal counsel starting in 1993. For years, he was also a volunteer attorney for the party.

A Pattern of Disturbing Behavior

This isn’t LeBlanc’s first brush with controversy. In 2005, he was issued a stalking order after reportedly propositioning a teenage boy working at a grocery store in Salem, New Hampshire.

In another disturbing incident from 2009, he was charged with assault for what court records describe as an aggressive, unwanted “bear hug” of a female lawyer. According to a police report, LeBlanc wrapped his arms around her from behind and pressed his pelvis into her, then publicly announced to nearby colleagues: “Isn’t she a beautiful Republican?”

That same woman reportedly filed a formal complaint.

In 2023, the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers publicly reprimanded LeBlanc for revealing the sealed juvenile records of a former client in a Facebook feud—raising serious ethical concerns about his judgment and character.

LeBlanc has held a string of municipal government jobs, including assistant city manager in Cambridge and town manager in Methuen and Salem, NH. But his political ambitions never panned out—he ran for Methuen city council in 2013 and finished dead last.

He was also banned from a Barnes & Noble in 2002 and told to stay off the Greater Lawrence Technical School campus in 2005.

His LinkedIn profile once proudly listed him as a “Litigator, Political Strategist, Lobbyist, City and Regional Manager, Negotiator, Business Owner.”

Now, he’s a man facing serious criminal charges—and a political party hoping you forget he was ever one of them.

No Accountability Yet

Essex District Attorney Paul Tucker’s office is prosecuting the case but has so far declined to release further details, citing the ongoing investigation.

Despite the gravity of the charges and a decades-long trail of concerning behavior, LeBlanc remains a free man—a shocking contrast to the swift public takedowns we often see when Republicans face even the whiff of accusation.

This case raises serious questions: How many more are out there like LeBlanc? And how long will the Democratic Party protect its own until it’s too late?

The American people deserve transparency, not political cover-ups.