Suspect Held on $500 Bail After Groping Elderly Residents in Newton

Sean Patrick Capalbo, 29, faces two felony counts of indecent assault and battery on a disabled person or a person over 60. The charges stem from a series of groping incidents targeting elderly residents near a senior living community in Newton.

Lasell University Police first received a report on October 6. A resident of Lasell Village told officers that a man she did not know approached her near a pond. The suspect claimed she had a spider on her back and brushed his hand over her backside for several seconds.

Police identified Capalbo using surveillance video and arrested him in connection with that initial incident. Investigators later linked him to at least three other similar cases that occurred this month.

In one of the additional incidents, Capalbo is accused of groping a Lasell Village resident who was using a walker on Seminary Avenue, across from Eager House. A separate police report detailed an assault on a postal worker at a Framingham apartment complex. That victim reported the suspect used the same spider line as the woman in Newton.

Rita Flagg, the property manager at the Framingham complex, said she consoled the postal worker after the incident. She described the victim as brave for coming forward. “They felt uncomfortable like anyone would,” Flagg said. “She didn’t feel right about it. She wanted to tell someone. She was being very brave.”

Capalbo pleaded not guilty during his arraignment in Newton District Court. He was ordered held on $500 bail, which he could not immediately post. Court documents indicate he is currently being held at the Middlesex Jail and House of Correction in Billerica.