More Men Caught Up in Sex Sting

The ongoing sex sting operations by the Brookline Police that has resulted in a number of men being arrested in the metropolitan region has netted two more, according to arrest reports.

Paul Austin, 56, of Brockton, and Fred Newhall, 49, of Blackstone, were both arrested on Feb. 17.

Austin was charged with annoying and accosting sexually, dissemination of obscenity to minors, and enticement of a child; Newhall was charged with enticement of a child under the age of 16, sexual conduct for a fee, and resisting arrest.

On Feb. 16, a detective posted an ad on Craigslist entitled “What’s up Craigslist,” in the women seeking men section of "Casual Encounters" of the online classified board. The ad stated, “I wanna say this one day to your face but for now I want to just get it off my chest to someone who can really listen, unlike you who just works and workout and whatever else dominates your schedule. School is useless for me. My friends do what they so. I can make my OWN choices and why is this site so uptight”

At around 5:08 p.m. on Feb. 16, the post received a response from a man named “Fred.” Detectives and a female officer, using the handle “studentwalker22,” corresponded with the man, later identified as Fred Newhall, which allegedly included an exchange of a picture. Later, they arranged a meeting with him at a local market. 

Detectives set up surveillance the next day at three different locations near the meeting site and allegedly received an email from Newhall at around 3:40 p.m. At 4:15 p.m., detectives saw the man who reportedly matched the picture that Newhall sent and arrested him.

Police also ran a check on Newhall and found that he had previous run-ins with the law, information that was redacted from the report. Online reports revealed that Newhall pled guilty to trying to solicit an underage girl in Uxbridge while trolling the web. He was also reportedly arrested for forging checks owned by his ex-wife.

At the station, Newhall was reportedly “uncooperative” and the police were unable to book or process him. He was later transported to Beth Israel Hospital for evaluation.

About two hours after Newhall allegedly contacted the fake Craigslist ad, another man emailed, and detectives and “studentwalker22” began corresponding with that individual, later identified as Austin.

Detectives set up surveillance and the female officer recived a call from Austin stating he was in the area. The officer responded that she would be right there, since she just entered the store. Detectives match Austin to a picture he sent in and arrested him. 

When the sergeant detective asked if he knew why he was being arrested, Austin reportedly stated, without hesitation, that he did.

Editor’s note: The following post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.