Mass Firefighter Charged With Soliciting Minor in RI
A Massachusetts firefighter has been arrested in Rhode Island on charges that he solicited sex from an undercover police officer posing online as a 14-year old girl.
Edward Mathias, 40, a ten-year veteran of the Fall River Fire Department, was arrested earlier this week when he attempted to meet the girl in Rhode Island. The Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force charged Mathias with indecent solicitation of a child (RIGL § 11-37-8.8) and electronic dissemination of indecent material to a minor (RIGL § 11-9-1.5). Both offenses are felonies.
According to Fall River Fire Chief John D. Lynch, Mathias had no prior disciplinary problems. The Providence Journal quoted Chief Lynch as saying: “This is a dark day for (the Fall River Fire Department).”
