Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Kerry Healey, struggling to close a gender gap with Democratic rival Deval Patrick, is unveiling a scathing new television ad linking Patrick's past efforts to seek parole for a convicted rapist with women's fears of being attacked.

The ad is drawing fire from women who support Patrick and victim advocates who said the Republican candidate for governor is pandering to women's fears in an attempt to draw votes and is ignoring the fact that the vast number of sexual assaults are committed by relatives or acquaintances, not strangers.

The ad, set to begin airing today, features grainy images of a woman walking alone in a deserted parking garage and is shot from the perspective of a potential stalker or assailant while a female narrator asks, "Have you ever heard a woman compliment a rapist?"

The ad includes a clip of a television interview during which Patrick described LaGuer as "eloquent" and "thoughtful." LaGuer was convicted of holding hostage and raping a 59-year-old neighbor in 1983. Patrick supported LaGuer's efforts to seek a DNA test, which later confirmed his guilt, after which Patrick dropped his support.

The ad concludes with the narrator saying: "Deval Patrick, he should be ashamed - not governor."

Most polls show Healey trailing Patrick among female voters. Healey has returned to the LaGuer case repeatedly in the past, both at press conferences and other television ads, to portray Patrick as soft on crime. But the latest ad is a more direct appeal.

Healey defended the ad, saying it talks to the real concerns of victims and to Patrick's "orientation and a pattern" of supporting offenders instead of victims.

"This has to do with what are Deval Patrick's priorities," she said. "I think when you talk about crime, one of the things you have to ask is what is your basic predisposition. He and his running mate have frequently been on the side of the offender."

The ad drew a fierce response from supporters of Patrick, who held an afternoon press conference outside the statehouse to denounce the ad.

State Sen. Marian Walsh, a Democrat from Boston, called the ad an "Alice in Wonderland attempt to frighten women."

"We are appalled. We are disturbed. We are disgusted," Walsh said, flanked by other women who are supporters of Patrick. "For many of us it is the ugliest, nasty, most disturbing commercial we have ever heard or seen. We are supporting Deval Patrick because we want to go in the other direction."

Georgianna Melendez, who described herself as a sexual assault survivor, also spoke at the rally.

"This ad perpetuates the myth that women are in danger walking alone at night, when in reality they are most at danger in their own home, on a date, or with someone who professes to love them," she said. "It also perpetuates that we should fear black men."

The ad was also drawing criticism from advocates for sexual assault victims.

Mary Lauby, executive director of Jane Doe Inc., an anti-domestic violence group, said the ad fails to reflect the reality of sexual assault for the majority of victims, both women and men.

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