I am a prosecutor, not a politician. This is my first campaign for elected office. I was an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County for 15 years, stepping down from that appointment at the end of this past March to run for Norfolk District Attorney.

I have been a prosecutor at every level in the District Attorney's office and have been the lead prosecutor in hundreds of trials. Starting as an Appeals prosecutor in 1992, I was responsible for the most serious cases--first-degree murder, aggravated rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking--in both the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court. I then moved to the District Court trial prosecution team, where I supervised the prosecutors in two District Courts. In 1998, I was promoted to be a Superior Court trial prosecutor. For ten years in Superior Court, I was entrusted with the prosecution of serious felonies, investigating them, charging them in the Grand Jury, and taking them to trial. For the last seven years of my career, I was assigned to the Child Abuse Unit, prosecuting the worst crimes committed against children, including sexual molestation, "shaken baby" physical abuse, and child pornography cases. Overlapping my time as an appeals prosecutor and a trial prosecutor, I was on the search warrant team for six years, responsible for responding 24 hours a day to crime scenes and to requests from police for assistance in obtaining search warrants. In 2009, I achieved the first (and so far only) successful prosecution in Massachusetts under Jessica's Law, a 2008 statute that created new, aggravated child sexual abuse offenses with enhanced sentences.

I know what prosecution is, what it requires, how to do it. I know this all from experience, from doing, and from years of learning, both in the courtroom and from the quiet courage of hundreds of victims whose cases I have handled.

• Child sexual abusers should go to prison for lengthy sentences, primarily to ensure that they do not abuse children again;
• We incarcerate too many drug offenders. Unlike child abusers, many drug offenders can be treated, and sentences involving treatment, not incarceration, should be sought when appropriate;
• Domestic violence cannot be tolerated, and must be opposed relentlessly by the District Attorney, both through strong prosecution and collaborations with schools, probation departments, social service agencies, and community groups, to increase understanding and awareness, and to protect victims.

• Public service should be limited by term limits. I will not serve more than two terms as District Attorney.
• Elected office should not be a stepping-stone to other elected offices. I will not run for any other office while serving as District Attorney.
• Massive fundraising is not necessary or helpful to being an effective District Attorney. As District Attorney, I will not solicit contributions to my campaign account if I do not have an election opponent.

Above all else, I believe strongly: the District Attorney should be an experienced prosecutor, able to lead and be responsible for the prosecution of every criminal case in Norfolk County. Experience, integrity, respect: these are the qualities I bring to this election and which make me uniquely qualified to be the next Norfolk District Attorney.