Fall River Man Sentenced for Repeated Child Rape

FALL RIVER — A Fall River man will serve at least 15 years behind bars after he was convicted of repeatedly raping a 14-year-old girl — while having a prior conviction for a similar offense.

The Bristol County District Attorney's Office said 37-year-old Arnold Thompson pleaded guilty on Wednesday to rape of a child with force and rape of a child by a previously convicted offender, after raping the girl three times in one night.

He was sentenced to 15 to 20 years in prison.

Get our free mobile app

According to the D.A.'s office, the victim told her mother Thompson had raped her when she was in Fall River visiting her friend at the Cardinal Medeiros Towers in December 2020.

Thompson, who also lived in the building, came over to the friend's apartment that night, later waking the 14-year-old victim up and raping her.

The D.A.'s office did not release further information about his prior conviction, as he was a juvenile at the time.

Following his release from prison, Thompson will be placed on supervised probation for another 10 years with a long list of special conditions.

These include attending sex offender treatment at his own expense, not living in a household with minor children, having no unsupervised contact with minor children, and having any employment approved in advance by his probation officer.

He will also not be allowed to have any supervised contact with minor children unless the supervisor is approved in advance and informed of Thompson's prior offenses.

No job or volunteer activities that put him into contact with children on a regular basis will be allowed.

Thompson is also prohibited from dating any parent of a minor child without permission from his probation officer and if granted, the officer must also inform the parent of his prior offenses.

He must also register with the Sex Offender Registry Board and will be subject to GPS monitoring.