The Rhode Island Attorney General's office said a convicted child rapist appeared in court on Friday for a probation violation hearing stemming from concerns about his use of the internet.
Richard Gardner appeared for a brief hearing in Kent County Superior Court.
The state said in court that the hearing was based on a series of probation reports they’ve been following over the last year or so.
"Conditions of Richard Gardner’s probation include close monitoring by probation officers, and the Office of the Attorney General today requested access to his social media accounts to better monitor Gardner," prosecutors said in a release. "Today, Gardner agreed to waive his Fourth Amendment rights and let probation officials have access to his social media accounts."
Attorney Stephen Linder, who is not affiliated with the case, says that waiver makes Gardner essentially an open book.
"By signing a waiver, he has waived police being required to have probable cause to search his house, to search his body, to search his telephone, to search his papers," Linder said.
Linder said it doesn't happen often.
"It doesn't," Linder said. "Usually, the defendant will want that 4th Amendment right so they can try to knock out the prosecution."
Gardner was convicted in the late 1980s of kidnapping and abusing children.
He spent nearly 30 years in Massachusetts and Rhode Island prisons.
He also faced domestic violence charges in March 2020.
Gardner is due back in court March 3.