Medford Man, 21, Charged in Assault on Teen
Cited in Boston Case Last Summer; Now Held on $1 Million Bail
Story Updated 4:48PM Friday, February 14, 2014
A 21-year-old Medford man has been charged in the indecent assault on an Arlington 14-year-old who was walking home from school two days earlier.
Chief Frederick Ryan praised strong interdepartmental cooperation among area law-enforcement groups led to the arrest of Patrick Barry at his home Wednesday, Feb. 12, police said in a news release.
At his arraignment Friday in Cambridge District Court, Barry was ordered held on $1 million cash bail. His bail was also revoked on open court cases out of Suffolk County.
Barry was also charged in a sexual assault of a woman last June in Boston.
Barry is due back in court on March 13 for a pretrial hearing.
In Arlington, police responded Tuesday, Feb. 11, to Summer and Mill streets to investigate the reported assault and battery. The victim told police that a man came up from behind and touched the teen inappropriately.
The victim gave police a description, which allowed a sketch artist from the Lincoln Police Department to compose a likeness of the suspect.
On Wednesday morning, Arlington police received a call from Joseph Jackson Jr., the chief probation officer for the Commonwealth, indicating that an individual already on probation, and subject to GPS monitoring, fit the description of the suspect.
Arlington police inspectors, reviewing data from the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) , were able to determine that the GPS log of the Medford man placed him in the exact spot of the assault and battery, at the exact time of the incident.
Arlington police, with the assistance of Medford Police, responded to Barry’s home and arrested him.
Barry is charged with indecent assault and battery on a child over 14 years of age, and he may face additional charges, as well as probation violations.
Barry is being held at Arlington Police Headquarters, and he will likely be arraigned Friday, Feb. 14, in Cambridge District Court.
“This is a fine example of teamwork leading to an arrest and some closure for our community,” Ryan said in the news release. “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.”
Ryan thanked members of the Arlington Police Criminal Investigations Bureau, the Medford Police, the BRIC, Lincoln Police Sketch Artist Ian Spencer and Jackson for their help in effecting a quick arrest in this case.
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.
In the June case, The Globe reported that Barry, a Northeastern University student, was charged with sexually assaulting a woman at knifepoint in Mission Hill, not far from his apartment and the scene of a similar attack less than an hour later.
In both attacks, the victims were approached from behind and assaulted with a knife, police said.
Barry graduated from Austin Preparatory School in Reading in 2010 and in 2012 was awarded a Stephen Phillips Memorial Scholarship based in part on a demonstrated concern for others in the community.