Bridgewater man accused of sexually assaulting disabled Easton teen
By Cody Shepard, The Enterprise
A Bridgewater man sexually assaulted a disabled teenager three times over the past few years, police said.
Lewis Greenwood Jr., 40, of 95 Flagg St., Bridgewater, was arrested at the Easton police station last week and charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over, assault and battery on an intellectually disabled person, and assault and battery on a disabled person, the Enterprise reported.
Police say Greenwood sexually assaulted a now-16-year-old girl at least three times in the last four years at her family’s Easton home.
Easton police detectives began conducting an investigation in October after the mother of the victim told police that her daughter was sexually assaulted, said Deputy Chief Keith Boone.
“The victim reported that she had been sexually assaulted over a period of time dating back to 2012,” Boone told The Enterprise.
Greenwood is well-known to the girl’s family, said Boone, who didn’t want to reveal their relationship in order to protect the victim. The Enterprise doesn’t name victims of sexual assaults.
“It was not random and they were known to each other for several years,” he said.
Although police say the first assault happened in 2012, and the last in June of this year, the girl didn’t tell her mother until this fall, Boone said.
“I don’t think fear was a factor,” he said. “I believe it came up in a conversation for the first time, and then the mother began probing it.”
Easton detectives began working with the Bristol County district attorney’s office to conduct interviews and collect evidence.
Last week, the district attorney’s office told Easton police that they had enough evidence to charge Greenwood with three counts of indecent assault and battery and additional assault charges based on the victim’s disability.
The victim was 13 at the time of the first assault, Boone said. She is intellectually disabled and has some physical limitations, but is able to walk and speak, he said.
Last Wednesday, detectives sought an arrest warrant for Greenwood, which was issued by the court. The next morning, about 11:20 a.m., he turned himself in at the Easton police station and was booked on the assault charges and held on $25,000 bail, pending his arraignment.
Greenwood pleaded not guilty during his arraignment in Taunton District Court on Thursday afternoon.
Judge John Canavan ordered bail to be set at $2,500, which was posted that afternoon by Greenwood’s father, according to court documents. He is ordered to stay away from the victim, have no contact with her family and abide by a restraining order.
The criminal-complaint application and police report for the case were impounded by the judge.
Greenwood is due back in court on Feb. 2 for a pretrial hearing.