Authorities work to fix glitch in system after inmate escapes

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- As Police search the state for an escaped inmate, questions are swirling as to why he was not under tighter security.

Manson Brown, 51, was serving a 10 year sentence, for home invasion and armed robbery.

Brown had just been indicted on new charges including a 1996 rape in Cambridge after a DNA check in the state’s backlogged crime lab came back positive, but he was still in a minimum security facility.

State corrections and public safety officials believe the escape is a result of a previously unseen glitch in the system. An emergency meeting was held over the weekend to fix it.

Authorities said following standard procedure the Middlesex district attorney’s office simultaneously put out a press release on the new indictment and contacted the court which in turn informs the corrections department.

However, Corrections was never informed of the new indictment soon enough.

“Intelligence suggests Brown may have heard of the indictment through media reports, and that may have prompted his escape,” according to corrections officials.

On Saturday, when search teams were combing the Bridgewater area, State officials in an emergency meeting agreed to change state policy.

The new policy would require the district attorney’s office to notify the corrections department before the news media when a current inmate is indicted on a new crime.

Authorities said Brown was originally in a maximum security prison, but was moved as his release date neared. Had the corrections department known, he would have been placed back in a maximum security facility.

The search has gone state-wide. Authorities said they have been in constant communication with the victim in the alleged 1996 rape.

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