A man was arrested in connection with the recent kidnapping and sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in Webster, Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Connecticut.
Joshua Besaw, 35, of Thompson, Conn., was arrested Wednesday on a federal criminal complaint charging him with offenses related to the May 31 kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor, the office said.
"This was a case of good old-fashioned police work and technology mixing," said Webster Police Chief Michael Shaw at an afternoon news conference.
Shaw had plenty of praise for his department in their work with other members of law enforcement.
"They did a phenomenal job of identifying who Mr. Besaw was and then getting information to secure the arrest warrant with the assistance of the FBI and Connecticut State Police," he said.
Besaw allegedly assaulted the girl in a wooded area in Thompson, Connecticut, and told her afterward, "at least I didn't rape you," according to an affidavit.
The victim had told police that her attacker approached her in a car while she was riding her bicycle a park in Webster. The man, later identified as Besaw, told her his name was "Chuck" and asked her to help him deliver money to his girlfriend, according to authorities.
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After the assault, Besaw allegedly refused to take her back to the park "because there was too many people around" and then took her phone.
The victim was driven to Dudley, Massachusetts, where she was released in an unfamiliar neighborhood. There, she ran to a nearby home and contacted her mother, authorities said.
Police had been searching for the man since the incident.
Through an investigation by Webster and Connecticut State Police which included surveillance video from many residences and business, authorities were able to identify Besaw. DNA evidence collected from discarded cigarette butts also matched DNA evidence collected from the minor victim, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
"I can't stress how thankful I am and probably one of the finest moments I've had was being able to watch Webster Det. Joseph Reid tell the family this morning that Mr. Besaw was in custody and the relief that washed over their faces was probably something I will not forget," said Shaw.
Following Besaw's arrest, he appeared before a U.S. Magistrate in Hartford and is currently being held in a federal detention center.
