A registered sex offender from New Hampshire has been arrested on charges he allegedly sexually assaulted a young child whose parent he had befriended.
John Lessor, 64, of Concord, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of aggravated felonious sexual assault.
Police said detectives began an investigation last week after being contacted by officials at the Merrimack Valley School District. Officials there told police that members of the community said Lessor had been spending a lot of time with a particular child to whom he was not related. Authorities said some of that time was unsupervised.
After learning Lessor was a registered sex offender, school officials were notified and they contacted police.
Through an investigation, authorities said Lessor had sexually assaulted the victim over a period of time and that the assaults were ongoing.
An arrest warrant was issued and Lessor was taken into custody without incident.
Jetta Bernier of the Boston-based child advocacy organization MassKids says two thirds of situations involve people similar to this, people who befriend children, who are known and in the parents circle of acquaintances.
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She urges parents to look at people’s behaviors.
Concord police are also crediting citizens with coming forward with the information, and say because of that, a dangerous person is now in custody.
This investigation is ongoing and police say additional charges could be forthcoming.
Lessor is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Merrimack County Superior Court at 1 p.m. It's unclear if he has an attorney.
