EAST BRIDGEWATER — Chief Paul O’Brien reports that the East Bridgewater Police Department arrested a man on a charge of child enticement this week.
On Monday, Oct. 10, PETER TOLAN, 58, OF ROCKLAND, was charged with Enticement of a Child Under 16.
On Monday, Detective Cecelia Cacciatore received a message through a social media app on her work-issued cell phone. The app allows users to message accounts after viewing a profile, and Detective Cacciatore received a message through an account she had previously created.
Detective Cacciatore began to engage with TOLAN through the app and later via text message, and when asked she identified herself as a 15-year-old. Messages of a sexually explicit nature were then allegedly sent by TOLAN. A search of the phone number used to send the messages was traced to TOLAN.
TOLAN allegedly agreed to meet whom he thought was a 15-year-old girl at a residence in East Bridgewater for the purposes of a sexual encounter. Detective Cacciatore and Sergeant Detective Ryan Cramer then proceeded to the agreed upon location, and observed a vehicle enter the parking lot that was registered to TOLAN.
TOLAN was approached in the parking lot by the officers and was placed under arrest without incident. A search of his cell phone found messages that matched those sent to Detective Cacciatore earlier in the day.
During the booking process, it was discovered that TOLAN was an employee of a nearby school district. East Bridgewater Police notified the School Resource Officer in that community and TOLAN was issued a verbal no trespass order.
TOLAN was released on $500 bail and was arraigned today in Brockton District Court. A pre-trial hearing is set for Nov. 30, and until then TOLAN is ordered to have no contact with minors, is prohibited from using social media, cannot leave the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, cannot apply for a job within a school system and is ordered to stay away from the district where he works.
These are allegations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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