Paul Normal- Senior Columnist
Wilmington MA- Police have taken a 28 year old man into Custody for allegedly enticing minors. Keith Patrick Santangelo, or Big Santy as he is sometimes known on the web was arrested in the evening of August 8th for 2 counts of Lewd Conduct with a minor, both felonies.
Thomas Nichols, an officer of 22 years for the Wilmington Police Department made the arrest. “He’s the entire reason I became a cop in the first place… This has been a really big win for WPD and the community as a whole” said Nichols when asked by Channel 23 News.
Lunenburg Police went to the house of 23 main street to serve an unrelated warrant on August 1st. Upon their arrival they found Santangelo, 3 unidentied adult accomplices and 3 unidentified minors. “It was pretty obvious what they were doing… You could smell the marijuana upon arrival. They reeked of booze and were playing what I would consider Party music”
Police became aware of Santangelo back in November 2016 when they received multiple tips and concerns about a group of “Bodybuilders” hanging out at the town park. “Concerned parents and residents of the community were upset because of the slew of profanities and the cloud of smoke they would walk their children through whenever they visited our park” said Craig Lesage, another officer who has made contact numerous times with the alleged defendant. “We quickly realized these weren’t parents but adults who have been a nuisance of our community”
This wasnt his first brush up with the law. Back in the summer of 2013 Santangelo had been arrested for criminally stalking an unidentified 12 year old girl. “The mother contacted us informing us that her daughter had been engaged by an adult male, on multiple occasions. A city official made a written statement where she claimed she saw the defendant solicit hugs, but the mother provided us with transcripts of their messages which were quite sexual in nature” said Officer Donovan who was on scene back in 2013.
Santangelo was released on bail from the Middleton Correctional Facility until his arraignment on August 18th