Military Rape Crisis Center

The state’s highest court has rejected a request to hear the appeal of a Sandwich man convicted of rape in February of 2009.

David Pierce, 46, the former chief officer of the Coast Guard’s Provincetown station, had avoided his 3-4 year prison sentence to MCI Cedar Junction pending the appeal.

In an unusual move, Judge Gary Nickerson stayed Pierce’s original sentence because of the likelihood that Pierce would be successful in securing a new trial. When Pierce lost his initial appeal, Nickerson again allowed Pierce to remain free while the state Supreme Judicial Court considered the case.

On Monday, the SJC affirmed the conviction on four counts of rape, according to Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe’s office. O’Keefe’s office immediately filed a motion for the court to impose the sentence.

Pierce has been free after his family posted $10,000 in bail. He wears a monitoring device and has registered as a sex offender.

Thomas Shack, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, said justice was served in this case. “The sentence should now be imposed,” he said.

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