A Massachusetts police officer was arrested last week and charged with soliciting a 15-year-old girl for prostitution.
Boston Police arrested Mitchell Walsh, a 28-year-old Fall River officer on leave for substance abuse issues, on Friday, WPRI reported. Authorities said he communicated for six weeks with an undercover officer he thought was a teen after answering a decoy ad placed on a website “commonly used by individuals who are trafficked and by individuals who want to purchase sex from these victims,” prosecutors said at his court appearance on Monday.
His messages reportedly included, “Let’s do this tonight,” “You free tonight?” and “Do you like to party at all?” according to prosecutors who said he agreed to pay $200 for sex.
Police arrested him when he arrived at the designated meeting in a gray Dodge Ram truck, where they found a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine in the center console and two more baggies in his wallet. They also found a an empty pen containing suspected cocaine residue, a vodka bottle, and a pack of minature liquor bottles. They also seized his cell phone.
Walsh was charged with enticement of a child under 16, sexual conduct for a fee with a child, attempted rape of a child, and possession of drugs with intent to distrubute. He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $5,000 (sic) bail with conditions that included staying away from children, staying out of Boston’s historic Charlestown neighborhood, surrendering his passport, and going through a substance abuse evalution.
He is due back in court on May 5.
Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan said the matter has “got to be dealt with very, very quickly;”
“We’ve got to do our best to get people like this out of the police department,” he said.
