Southbridge man accused of kidnapping, assaulting girl after using dog to lure her from Webster beach
By Jamy Pombo Sesselman
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WEBSTER, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A Southbridge man is accused of kidnapping a girl from a Webster beach and sexually assaulting her before returning the victim to her home, police said Monday.
The victim told police on April 15 that she was at Memorial Beach, a public beach on Webster Lake, when she encountered a man later identified as 68-year-old Walter Fanion, who was with his dog.
The girl told police Fanion lured her into his car and drove to another location to drop off his dog. She said at one point, Fanion assaulted her inappropriately. He then dropped her off near her residence, where she told her grandmother about the incident, police said.
“On Monday, April 15, 2024, the defendant around 1 p.m. did lure a child under the age of 14 to his vehicle using his dog at the Webster beach. Once she was inside the vehicle, the defendant did take her to various locations throughout the various towns surrounding this area. In one of those areas he did sexually assault the child,” the prosecutor said.
Fanion allegedly told the girl that he would be at Memorial Beach the following day at 11:30 a.m.
The girl was able to provide some unique characteristics about Fanion’s car. Officers said they found a car matching that description at the beach, and Fanion was identified as the suspect.
Detectives from the Webster and Southbridge police departments monitored the suspect and Memorial Beach during the next several days, officials said.
Officials followed Fanion to Memorial Beach on Friday, and he was taken into custody.
He was charged with kidnapping, enticing a child under 16 and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.
Fanion is scheduled to return to court Friday.
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