A 29-year-old man is facing felony charges after campus police at Lasell Village linked him to two separate incidents in October in which elderly women were allegedly groped, one of them after the man said she had a spider on her back. Sean Patrick Capalbo pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of indecent assault and battery on a disabled person or person over 60.
According to The Boston Globe, the first alleged assault involved a man touching a woman on the buttocks near the pond behind Lasell Village. The woman did not know him, the Globe reported. WHDH reported that, in its account of an incident involving a resident near the pond, the man said she had a spider on her back and then brushed her backside. Lasell University police were first alerted on Oct. 6, when a Lasell Village resident reported being groped near the pond, according to court documents cited by WHDH.
Spider Claim Near the Pond
A separate alleged incident involved a Lasell Village resident on Seminary Avenue, across from Eager House, who was allegedly groped, according to WHDH.
Campus police believed the same person was responsible for both incidents, the Globe reported, though that connection reflects law enforcement's stated belief rather than a confirmed determination. WHDH reported that Capalbo was identified and arrested using surveillance video, according to police, and that the Seminary Avenue victim was using a walker when approached.
Court Proceedings and Custody Status
Capalbo was unable to immediately post bail and was sent to the Middlesex Jail and House of Correction in Billerica, the Globe reported. His next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 24, per the same account. WHDH separately reported that Capalbo was ordered held on $500 bail in Newton District Court and was unable to post it at the time.
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265, Section 13F addresses indecent assault and battery on a person with an intellectual disability when the offender knows of that disability. An excerpt of the statute states that the offense is punishable by imprisonment in state prison for not less than five years or more than ten years, with a second or subsequent offense carrying a minimum of ten years.
Accounts of a Third Alleged Incident
WHDH also reported that Capalbo was linked to at least three other similar cases that month, including an allegation that he groped a postal worker at a Framingham apartment complex using the same spider line reported by the Lasell Village victim. Rita Flagg, identified by the outlet as the property manager of that Framingham complex, told WHDH she consoled the victim and said the woman felt uncomfortable and wanted to tell someone. Flagg said she was glad Capalbo was arrested, according to the station's report.
The circumstances connecting the Framingham allegation to the Newton case have not been detailed beyond the reported use of the same spider pretext. Capalbo's case remains pending ahead of the November hearing.
