Man Arrested for Child Groping in Plaistow Charged in Salem Cold Case

A Haverhill, Mass. man charged last month for allegedly groping a child in a Plaistow Walmart was arrested by Salem Police today after he was linked to an unsolved indecent exposure crime at the Salem Walmart dating back to September 19, 2011.

Ronald Beausoleil, 32, was arrested on a felony warrant for indecent exposure. Beausoleil was subsequently arraigned at Salem District Court and held on $10,000 cash bail.

Beausoleil was arrested in Plaistow on March 11 for sexually assaulting a child.

Salem Police Department Sgt. Thomas Kench and Detective Michael White later reviewed the security camera of the arrest. At that time, Kench thought a photo of Beausoleil from the security camera resembled the unidentified suspect from the Salem incident.

The Sept. 2011 incident involved a male that had exposed himself to a female child while in the Salem store, located on 314 N. Broadway.

Despite an extensive investigation and the use of Walmart security video still photos of the male subject put out in local media outlets, Salem Police were unable to identify the suspect at the time and the case went cold.

As part of the investigation that led to today's arrest, a Criminal Information Analyst at the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry assisted White in putting together a photo line-up.

The victim, who was 8 years old at the time of the incident, and an adult witness from the 2011 case were able to identify Beausoleil as the suspect.