LEOMINSTER — On Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at approximately 5:55 p.m., Officer Jonathan Benoit of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to Motel 6 at 48 Commercial Road following a report of an unwanted guest. The clerk said a man propositioned a 13-year-old girl staying in a room down the hall from him and was now refusing to leave.
Leominster Police Officer Shane Crawford arrived as backup.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Benoit and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
When Officer Benoit arrived on scene, he approached the front desk and spoke with the clerk who identified the individual she reported as John McCassey. She informed the officer that McCassey was staying in Room 258.
According to police, John M. McCassey, 67, is a resident of 90 Packard Road in Stow.
“She states that she asked him to leave, and he did not,” Officer Benoit said. “I passed the identifying information along to the dispatch who confirmed they had him on file.”
The clerk, Officer Crawford, and Officer Benoit walked to McCassey’s room. On the way there, the clerk told the officers that a man staying in a room abutting McCassey’s – Room 255 – told her that McCassey had tried to get his 13-year-old daughter into his room by instructing her to “come here” from his doorway.
After hearing this, the clerk said she went to McCassey’s room to kick him out of the motel.
“[The clerk] states that she went up to kick out Mr. McCassey and upon doing so, Mr. McCassey refused to leave,” Officer Benoit said. “Mr. McCassey also allegedly told [the clerk] that she was pretty, that he had a lot of cash, and asked if she wanted to make some money. She told him that she was not a prostitute. He acknowledged that and then asked where he could get a prostitute and some crack.”
At this time, Officer Benoit asked the clerk if she would like McCassey trespassed from the motel forever, she said yes.
When they arrived at Room 258, Officer Benoit said McCassey was seated in a chair in the open doorway of his room.
“I told him that he was being trespassed from the property and that he was already told to leave, and if he did not, he would be arrested,” Officer Benoit said.
Officer Benoit said McCassey refused to leave following his initial request.
“I told him I was not going to tolerate this behavior based on the allegations made and that he would be arrested if he did not gather his stuff and leave,” Officer Benoit said. “He again refused. I had [the clerk] inform him that he was trespassed, she did so telling him he could never come back.”
After Officer Benoit told McCassey to leave a third time, he exclaimed “Arrest me!”
At this point, Officer Benoit informed McCassey that he was under arrest.
When Officer Benoit asked McCassey to stand up and he didn’t comply, the officer grabbed his left wrist and elbow and pulled him to his feet from the chair.
“I brought his hand behind his back and began to handcuff him with me on his left side and Officer Crawford on his right,” Officer Benoit said.
Officer Crawford said he had to overpower McCassey to take control of his right arm.
“I then grabbed hold of his right arm and went to place it behind his back,” Officer Crawford said. “I could feel the muscles in Mr. McCassey’s arms flexing in an attempt to prevent me from placing his hand behind his back. I was able to overcome this using my own muscular power.”
After this, the officers escorted McCassey out of his motel room. When they reached the top of a flight of stairs they needed to descend to get from the second floor of the motel to the first, McCassey refused to go down the stairs, instead exclaiming, “Carry me!”
“At this point, I grabbed hold of his legs and Officer Benoit grabbed hold of his torso and we carried him down the stairs,” Officer Crawford said.
Officer Crawford then secured McCassey in the back seat of his cruiser and took him to the station, while Officer Benoit remained on scene to speak with the 13-year-old girl (i.e., the victim) McCassey allegedly propositioned and her father.
The victim told Officer Benoit that she was outside Room 255, where she was staying with her father and mother, when McCassey repeatedly asked her to come into his room, from where he was, a few doors down.
“She went back inside and told her dad,” Officer Benoit said.
The victim’s father said that he went into the hallway to find out what McCassey wanted. The victim’s father said that McCassey asked him to “Bring the dogs down.”
“He was confused and stated that he doesn’t have dogs,” Officer Benoit said. “Mr. McCassey then stated that he meant ‘the hookers,’ and that he wanted the younger one that he had seen.”
The victim’s father said he then told McCassey to watch what he was saying because he was talking about his daughter and wife.
After the men exchanged words, they returned to their respective rooms.
“A few minutes later, the victim went outside again and was told ‘Come here’ again by Mr. McCassey,” Officer Benoit said. “[The victim’s father] then left to find staff and tell them what happened.”
The clerk said that she had to go upstairs three times in an hour to tell McCassey to “knock off his behavior,” but he refused.
Following his investigation, Officer Benoit concluded that McCassey attempted to lure the child into his room for a sexual act, based on the following facts: 1) that McCassey told the child to “come here” in an attempt to get her into his room, 2) that when her father came into the hallway, McCassey asked him to “bring the dogs out,” and then clarified that by “the dogs,” he meant “the hookers,” 3) and that McCassey told the clerk that she was pretty, then stated that he had a ton of money and when she declined by stating directly that she wasn’t a prostitute, he asked her where he could find them.
McCassey was charged with the following:
- Entice Child Under 16
- Sexual Conduct for Fee
- Accost/Annoy Another Person
- Resist Arrest
- Trespass
- Disturbing the Peace
“Mr. McCassey was arrested for trespassing after notice, resisting arrest for becoming passive resistant after refusing to descend the stairs,” Officer Benoit explained. “I am also requesting charges for the crime of Enticement of a Child Under the Age of 16, Paying for Sexual Conduct, for Annoying and Accosting, as he asked or indicated multiple females were prostitutes and attempted to have them go into his room, and for Disturbing the Peace, evidenced by the fact that he was in an open doorway and on the balcony when he attempted to get the victim and [the clerk] into his room for what they perceived was a sexual purpose. That area that he was located in was visible to the street, the restaurant next store and people walking by could have easily heard them.”
McCassey’s bail was set at $2,500.
He was arraigned in Leominster District Court on May 8, 2024, after which he was released on his own personal recognizance under the condition that he stay away from Motel 6, not contact the victim, or any other children under the age of 16.
He attended a pretrial hearing on June 6, 2024 and a status hearing on June 21, 2024.
McCassey is scheduled to appear in court again on July 18, 2024.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from May, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
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