Level 3 sex offender recently charged with rape of two girls arrested in Westminster for failing to register new address

WESTMINSTER — On Thursday, October 3, 2024, Detective David Leblanc of the Westminster Police Department was on patrol when he received information that a Level 3 sex offender, Ariel Maldonado, was residing on Lovell Street.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Detective Leblanc and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

According to police, Ariel Maldonado, 49, is a resident of 21 Lovell Street, Westminster, MA.

Detective Leblanc verified Ariel Maldonado’s status as a Level 3 sex offender through the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) and found out that his primary residential address was registered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

“Maldonado has a living address of 47 Harris Street in Pittsfield, Massachusetts,” Det. Leblanc said. “He has a work address of 3 Ajootian Way in Middleton, Massachusetts. Maldonado has a 2009 Subaru passenger car with Massachusetts registration [number redacted].”

Det. Leblan continued, “I ran Maldonado through the Massachusetts RMV and learned he has a second vehicle registered to him, a 2009 Mazda RX8 coupe color black with Massachusetts registration [number redacted]. This vehicle is not on his SORB registration. I also looked up the property of 21 Lovell Street in Westminster. The house is owned by Ariel Maldonado since the purchase in February of 2024. Maldonado also stated he resided in Westminster, Mass, during a recent trial in Worcester Superior Court.”

Det. Leblanc said that on the evening of Oct. 4, 2024, both of Maldonado’s vehicles were in the driveway of 21 Lovell Street.

“On the morning of Saturday, October 5, 2024, both of Maldonado’s vehicles were in the driveway as well,” Det. Leblanc said. “In the late afternoon of Tuesday, October 15, 2024, I observed Maldonado outside of the residence putting up plywood sheets on a metal car port to enclose it. When I observed Maldonado, both of the vehicles registered to him that are mentioned above were in the driveway.”

Det. Leblanc said that on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, he was conducting surveillance on 21 Lovell Street when he observed Maldonado operating the 2009 Subaru Impreza registered in the SORB.

“Maldonado drove up Lovell Street and parked in the driveway. Shortly after, Sergeant [Nicholas] Auffrey went to 21 Lovell Street and spoke to Maldonado who was standing in the driveway,” Det. Leblanc said. Later adding, “Maldonado told Sergeant Auffrey he has lived ‘here’ since March of 2024. The garage is full of items and a motorcycle which Maldonado says is his as well. Maldonado told Sergeant Auffrey that he sometimes receives mail from the previous homeowners.”

Detective Leblanc stated that Ariel Maldonado’s registration as a sex offender started on April 1, 2003, following a rape conviction. The conviction stemmed from an indictment in Worcester Superior Court for charges of kidnapping and aggravated rape, from an incident that took place on July 6, 2001. Following his conviction, Maldonado was sentenced to 5 – 7 years in jail and given lifetime parole. (The Sentinel & Enterprise attempted to ascertain the release date of Maldonado after his conviction but reported that their efforts were unsuccessful).

“After speaking with the Massachusetts Parole Board, I learned Maldonado’s parole [for the April 2003 conviction] was vacated on April 1, 2008,” Det. Leblanc said. “Since this offense, Maldonado has been indicted in Worcester Superior Court on two more separate cases. The first case occurred in Fitchburg in the month of December of 2018.”

According to court documents obtained by the Sentinel & Enterprise, in December of 2018, Maldonado, whose primary residential address at the time was 25 Belli Avenue, Fitchburg, MA, was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court for allegedly raping a girl who was under the age of 14 from March 2014 to November 2018. During a forensic interview with investigators, the alleged victim said that Maldonado sexually assaulted her from March 2014 to November 2018 and during that time, Maldonado also showed her inappropriate sexual images on his cell phone. For this, Maldonado was charged with:

1. Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under 14 (two counts)
2. Rape Subsequent Offense (two counts)
3. Possession or Dissemination of Obscene Matter to a Minor
4. Aggravated Rape of a Child by 5-year Age Difference (two counts)

Following his arraignment in Worcester Superior Court in December 2018, Maldonado was held in jail in lieu of posting a $25,000 cash bail and ordered to have no contact with children under the age of 16.

Det. Leblanc said the aforementioned Fitchburg case from 2018 is still pending.

Det. Leblanc said a second case occurred in Fitchburg in the month of April of 2019, when Maldonado was charged with:

1. Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under 14 (two counts)
2. Aggravated Rape of a Child by a 10-Year Age Difference
3. Rape of a Child Under the Age of 16

According to the Sentinel & Enterprise, Maldonado was arraigned for the April 2019 charges on Monday, July 8, 2019, in Worcester Superior Court. In April 2019, Maldonado was still residing primarily at 25 Belli Avenue in Fitchburg. According to court documents obtained by the Sentinel & Enterprise, the alleged victim said that Maldonado began raping her five years ago when she was between 6 – 8 years old and continued until 2017. The victim told investigators that Maldonado raped her in his basement and during the assaults, he would hold his hand over her mouth, to keep her quiet. The girl said she didn’t know precisely how many times Maldonado sexually assaulted her, but said the assaults stopped when a friendship between her mother and Maldonado’s relative ended in 2017.

The case against Maldonado coming out of Fitchburg in April 2019 is also still open in Worcester Superior Court, Det. Leblanc said.

“Based on the aforementioned knowledge and my own observations, I have probable cause to believe that Maldonado has resided at 21 Lovell Street, Westminster, MA, for approximately seven (7) months without registering with the Westminster Police Department,” Det. Leblanc said. “Maldonado has failed to notify the Westminster Police Department no less than ten (10) days prior to moving from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, into his home at 21 Lovell Street, Westminster, MA.”

Maldonado was charged with:

• Fail to Register as Sex Offender

Westminster police served Maldonado a warrant for the charge of failing to register as a sex offender on Oct. 22, 2024.

Maldonado’s bail was set at $10,000.

He was arraigned in Gardner District Court on Oct. 22, 2024. During his arraignment, Judge Andrew Abdella approved the Commonwealth’s motion to revoke Maldonado’s bail, ordering him to be held in jail for 90 days until January 17, 2025.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from October, 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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