Dartmouth Man Arrested for Allegedly Exposing Himself, Committing Lewd Act at Park

DARTMOUTH (WBSM) — A Dartmouth man was arrested and charged after he allegedly pulled down his pants and began masturbating in front of police detectives on the trails at Harry Reynolds Park.

According to Dartmouth Police, detectives from the Community Impact Unit were conducting an undercover operation on Saturday, May 10 into “suspicious activity” that had been occurring at Harry Reynolds Park, located at 443 Old Fall River Road in Dartmouth.

Complaints About “Acts of Lewdness”

Police said the department had “received numerous complaints regarding ‘acts of lewdness’ and individuals exposing themselves in the walking trails” at the park.

“Throughout the investigation, detectives assigned to the CIU learned that individuals use social apps to facilitate meetings to engage in sexual activity at a predetermined location,” police said, with the park being one of those locations.

Dartmouth Man Allegedly Caught in the Act

At about 1:33 p.m. on May 10, detectives saw two men enter the walking trails. Police said the two men had arrived at the park in separate vehicles “and were observed making eye contact with each other before entering the trails together.”

According to police, the detectives entered the same trail and observed the two men standing near each other. When the detectives approached the two men, one of them – identified as Joao Ladino, 67, of Dartmouth – “made direct eye contact with a detective and then pulled down his pants, fully exposing himself, and began to masturbate.”

The detectives immediately identified themselves as police officers and Ladino was detained. Police said Ladino became uncooperative with officers on scene and was subsequently transported to a local hospital for evaluation. He was charged with open and gross lewdness as well as lewd, wanton and lascivious conduct.

WBSM News requested a booking photo of Ladino from Dartmouth Police but one has not been provided as of this writing.