(NECN: Lauren Collins, Plaistow, N.H.) - Less than 24 hours after a 9-year-old girl reported being fondled in the toy aisle of the Plaistow, N.H. Wal-Mart, authorities happened upon Ronald Beausoleil.
"A luck chance there was a Rockingham County Sheriff's unit that was in the area last night that happened to run across the truck," says Plaistow Police Sgt. Jason Mazza.
Police had released security stills and a description of Beausoleil's vehicle after the girl and her mother went to management Monday night to report the incident. He'd fled by the time police showed up, but was back and arrested in the same parking lot Tuesday.
"That's probably the worst part of it," says Sgt. Mazza. "Our fear of him re-offending could have come to light had he not been captured and that was a huge part of it, just catching him in the same plaza he'd been in the night before."
Beausoleil is registered in Haverhill, Mass. as a level three sex offender. According to police records, he lives on Amesbury Road. A neighbor says several young children live downstairs from him. The 33-year-old man was convicted in New Hampshire in 1999 for indecent assault and battery on a child. The Mass. sex offender registry also shows a 2007 conviction for attempted open and gross lewdness.
"We were more than happy to be able to catch him there at Wal Mart," Sgt. Mazza says.
Beausoleil pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday morning, where he faced two counts of felonious sexual assault. He also faces charges for driving after having his license revoked and for stealing spark plugs from the Wal-Mart. He was ordered held on $25,000 bail and is due back in court next week.
