Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Medford Man Charged with Tuesday's Indecent Assault and Battery Held on $1 Million Bail

The 21-year-old man allegedly indecently assaulted an Arlington student Tuesday on the teen's walk home from school.

Update, 12:15 p.m., Friday, Feb. 14

Patrick Barry, the 21-year-old Medford man charged with Tuesday's indecent assault and battery in Arlington, was held on $1 million cash bail Friday at his arraignment in Medford's Cambridge District Court, according to Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan.

Barry's bail was also revoked on open court cases out of Suffolk County, Ryan said.

Find out what's happening in Arlingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Barry is due back in court March 13 for a pretrial hearing.

-----

Find out what's happening in Arlingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Initial post:

A 21-year-old Medford man was arrested Wednesday afternoon in connection with Tuesday’s indecent assault in Arlington.

Patrick Barry is being charged with indecent assault and battery on a child over 14, and additional charges, as well as probation violations, may follow, according to a Thursday release from Arlington police.

Last summer, Barry, then a Northeastern University student, was charged with attacking two women in separate incidents in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. Barry allegedly had a knife in those attacks.

On Tuesday afternoon, Barry allegedly came up behind a 14-year-old student, who was walking home from school, near Summer and Mill streets in Arlington and touched the student inappropriately, according to police.

That evening, the victim gave Ian Spencer, a sketch artist from the Lincoln Police Department, a description of the suspect, and, on Wednesday morning, Joseph Jackson Jr., the chief probation officer for Massachusetts, called Arlington police after recognizing Barry from the sketch.

Arlington police inspectors then placed Barry at the scene after reviewing data from the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, as Barry wears a GPS device as one of the conditions of his probation.

Arlington police, with assistance from Medford police, arrested Barry at his Medford home Wednesday afternoon. Barry is expected to be arraigned Friday in Cambridge District Court in Medford. He is being held at Arlington’s Community Safety Building, police said.

Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan thanked members of his department’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, Medford police, the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, Spencer and Jackson for their help in making a quick arrest in the case.

 “This is a fine example of teamwork leading to an arrest and some closure for our community,” Ryan said in a statement.  “A dangerous offender is off the streets today. The people of Arlington will not tolerate attacks on children, and the Arlington Police Department will continue to be extremely aggressive in pursuing anyone who thinks they can get away with assaulting a child.”

The incident remains under investigation. Arlington police are working with the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. Anyone with information on this incident is urged to call Arlington police at 781-643-1212.

Student Indecently Assaulted on Walk Home from School >>

Northeastern Student from Medford Allegedly Attacks Two Women with Knife on Boston Streets >>


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Arlington