EAST PROVIDENCE — East Providence Police remain on the lookout for a suspect in the October 17 robbery of a city package store, Liquor Plus located on South Broadway.
According to the police report, the male suspect shoplifted items from the store, no cash was taken. He was said to have been driving a black SUV, considered to be a Mazda or Honda.
East Providence Police request anyone with information call the department at 401-435-7600.
Pedophile sentenced
The United States Attorney’s officer recently announced a Massachusetts man had been sentenced for his part in attempting to engage in sexual activity with a minor. The act took place in East Providence.
Robert F. Eccleston, 57, of Fairhaven and a registered sex offender, was sentenced today to 97 months in federal prison for traveling in the crime under interstate commerce statutes. Mr. Eccleston admitted in court that on July 12, 2016, he traveled from Massachusetts to East Providence expecting to meet with and engage in illicit sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy he had been communicating with on the Internet.
Mr. Eccleston pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence on September 21, 2017, to traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct. Aside from his prison term, Mr. Eccleston was also sentenced to serve lifetime supervised release upon completion of his term of incarceration.
In his allocution, Mr. Eccleston said he responded to an online Personals/Encounters posting and photograph of a male who initially represented that he was 18-years-old and single. The online posting was actually posted earlier that day by a Rhode Island State Police Detective assigned to the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.
Over the next several days, an HSI agent posing as the person who placed the online posting and Eccleston engaged in a series of Internet and email communications. The communications quickly became sexual in nature. The agent, posing as the person who placed the online posting, repeatedly told Eccleston that he was only 15-years-old, adding that he lived with his mother. As the communications continued, and believing that he was actually communicating with a 15-year-old, Eccleston asked for photographs of the boy, including an explicit nude photograph.
According to court documents and information presented to the court, at Mr. Eccleston’s urging, the two agreed to meet in East Providence on July 12, 2016, to engage in sexual activity. ICAC task force members and HSI agents arrested Mr. Eccleston near the location where he believed that he would meeting with the 15-year-old boy.
Mr. Eccleston has been detained in federal custody since his arrest on July 12, 2016. According to court records, Mr. Eccleston was ordered to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts in 2006, following his conviction on charges that he raped a person under 18.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan. The Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is comprised of law enforcement personnel from the Rhode Island State Police, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Warwick, Cranston, East Providence, Newport, Pawtucket, North Kingstown, Bristol, and Woonsocket Police Departments.
Child pornography arrest
An East Providence man was one of two arrested recently and held in custody for trafficking in child pornography. Charles Chavis, 51, is charged with possessing child pornography after receiving it from Cranston resident, Robert Soares, 38. According to court filings, Chavis received child pornography from Soares at least three times between March and April of this year.
An investigation of Mr. Soares, who was previously arrested and charged with kidnapping and indecent exposure, by Cranston Police led to a search warrant for Mr. Soares' cell phone upon which investigators found photos and video of a 14-year-old girl dressed only in her underwear. The search also found text message exchanges between Messrs. Soares and Chavis.
DUI arrest
The Rhode Island State Police recently made several arrests over the Columbus Day weekend, including one of a city man for intoxicated driving.
Craig J. Corey, 28 and of 69 Nimitz Road, was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor and/or drugs, first offense, blood-alcohol content (B.A.C.) unknown, and refusal to submit to a chemical test, first offense. He was arrested after his vehicle allegedly struck another car travelling on Interstate 195 East in Providence at approximately 10 p.m. Monday. He also was cited for presence of an alcoholic beverage while operating a motor vehicle; failure to report an accident; and laned roadway violations.