Molester, Down to 396 Pounds, Being Paroled

Sex offender Joseph (Jo-Jo) Giorgianni will be paroled Tuesday after serving three years of a sentence that he had said would kill him because of his weight, corrections officials said Saturday.

Giorgianni will be leaving prison more than 100 pounds lighter than when he entered it. He weighed 500 pounds when he was convicted but has trimmed down to 396 pounds.

Giorgianni, 36, was sentenced in 1982 to 15 years in prison for molesting a 14-year-old girl in 1978. But he was freed after one week because his lawyer convinced Mercer County Superior Court Judge Richard Barlow Jr. that prison life could be fatal to him.

A public outcry followed. “Don’t let that fat rapist off free,” the victim’s mother demanded.

Barlow reversed his decision 27 days later, after prosecutors aired a videotape of Giorgianni rooting vigorously during a boxing match when he was awaiting sentencing.