Walter Fanion, inset, is accused of kidnapping a girl from Memorial Beach in Webster, Massachusetts, during a Patriots’ Day celebration on April 15, 2024. He lured her into his car with his dog, cops say. (Mug shot: Webster police; Screenshot: WBTS/YouTube)
A Massachusetts man allegedly sparked a conversation about his dog with a girl who was alone at the beach and then lured her into his car before driving off and later assaulting her.
It happened during a Patriots’ Day celebration at Memorial Beach in Webster on April 15, which is about 55 miles southwest of Boston. According to Webster police, the girl and her grandmother came to the police station to report the incident. She said a man struck up a conversation with her about his dog when she was at the beach, which also has a park. He lured her into his car and drove her to a location where he dropped off the dog, according to cops.
He then “assaulted her inappropriately,” police said. The girl said the man then dropped her off near her home and she told her grandmother about the ordeal. Cops collected evidence and increased patrols at the beach.
In an interview with detectives, the girl said the man told her he’d be at the beach around 11:30 a.m. the next day. She also gave cops some “unique characteristics” about the car. Webster police along with several other agencies flooded the area around the beach and found a car that matched the description the girl gave to investigators. Cops “monitored” the suspect over the next few days.
On Friday, police followed the suspect from his home in nearby Southbridge to Memorial Beach. Cops took the man, identified as 68-year-old Walter Fanion, into custody without incident. He faces charges of kidnapping, enticing a child under 16 and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. He’s currently in jail on $75,040 cash bail.
From police:
If anyone else had any similar contact with Fanion, they are encouraged to call the Webster Police Department Detective Bureau at 508-943-1212.
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