SALEM, Mass. — A popular political activist and newspaper columnist penned a “dying wish” in her final column, calling on the governor of Massachusetts to live up to a promise and remove parole restrictions on a convicted child sex abuser she believes was wrongly accused 30 years ago.

Barbara Anderson said in a column published this week — though written prior to her death from cancer on Friday — that Republican Gov. Charlie Baker assured Gerald “Tooky” Amirault, 62, he would intervene in his case.

Asked for a response to Anderson’s column, Baker declined to acknowledge the promise. His office issued a statement saying he had “tremendous respect for Barbara’s career” and that the parole board thoughtfully and carefully reviews all recommendations.

Amirault was convicted in 1986 of abusing children between the ages of 2 and 4 at the Fells Acre Day Care Center in Malden, Massachusetts, run by his family. The nationally publicized case relied on statements of the youngsters and no collaborating physical evidence.

Anderson and others, including Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Dorothy Rabinowitz of the Wall Street Journal, called it a miscarriage of justice, questioning whether prosecutors had talked the children into making statements about a “secret room” and an abusive “bad clown” at the day care center.

Sent to prison for 30 to 40 years, Amirault gained release on parole in 2004. But he is required to wear an electronic tracking device at all times, report in a notebook each time he leaves his home, take a lie detector test every six months and comply with a 10 p.m. curfew. He’s also registered as the highest level sex offender and cannot leave the state without permission.

Amirault, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence, said he feels “like you’re free but you’re not free.” He said he doesn’t want the governor to pardon him because that would be seen as admitting guilt. Amirault said Baker promised to support efforts to remove Amirault’s parole conditions while campaigning for governor two years ago. “He made a commitment to me in front of my whole family that once he was elected, one of the first things on his list would be to take care of my situation,” Amirault told the Salem, Massachusetts News.

Anderson, who said she was influenced by Rabinowitz’ editorials in the Wall Street Journal, spent endless hours looking into Amirault’s case, including interviewing him in prison. She contended he was the victim of overzealous prosecutors determined to pin child abuse charges on him even though there was no physical evidence of child sex abuse.

Amirault’s mother and sister were also convicted in the case, and sentenced to from 8 to 20 years in prison. They were released in 1995 when a judge ordered a new trial for them. The mother died several months later, and the district attorney reduced the sister’s sentence to time served.

Anderson has been known for her crusading ways since the 1980s, when she campaigned forcefully and successfully for a tax-cutting referendum restricting local property taxes in Massachusetts. She later headed an organization called Citizens for Limited Taxation, serving as an effective counter-weight to the liberal state legislature on tax issues big and small.

She died of leukemia at age 73, writing her final column from a hospice bed.

Details for this story were provided by the Salem, Massachusetts News.