Was Hinsdale Police Department "Death Spiral" A Result Of The Delayed Charging With This Guy?

If they charged this guy on the first sexual assault, would the other three girls gotten sexually assaulted? Did low police manning cause this?   

Hinsdale man charged with sexual assault
Posted Monday, February 3, 2020 11:27 am

By Bob Audette, Brattleboro Reformer

KEENE, N.H. — A 39-year-old Hinsdale, N.H. man has been charged with five counts of sexual assault following an investigation that began in 2015.

According to documents filed with Cheshire County Superior Court, the Hinsdale Police Department was first made aware of Steven J. Baraby in November 2015 after it received a report that he had taken pictures of two pre-teen girls wearing lingerie.

Four months later, Baraby told police that he did take pictures of the girls while playing "dress up" but became "angry and defensive when asked if he suggested to the kids that they should wear lingerie," stated the court documents, which were filed by Lt. Melissa Evans on Jan. 31. Baraby allegedly deleted the photos before his police interview and there is no indication he was charged at the time.

Then, in November 2017, the Hinsdale Police Department received a report that Baraby was having sex with three girls.

A short while later, Evans interviewed one of the alleged victims, who said she had been sexually assaulted by Baraby during a sleepover at his house sometime in October 2017. A second alleged victim told doctors that she had been sexually assaulted by Baraby in November 2017.

And then, in May 2018, the Hinsdale Police Department received a report that Baraby had allegedly sexually assaulted a third victim. That victim, during an interview with police in July 2018, did not disclose a sexual assault. But in December 2019, the girl told investigators that she had been assaulted by Baraby over the course of about one year.

According to the affidavit filed by Evans, Baraby sent text messages to a family member stating "I never touched her inappropriately," "Tell me how bad this will end for me," and "I will not spend the rest of my life in jail because of lies."

One of the alleged victims told Evans that all three of the girls were present during one incident when Baraby allegedly assaulted all of them.

"I felt disgusted but also pressured to do what he asked," wrote one of the victims.

Baraby was charged with three counts of felonious sexual assault, and two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault.

He was arrested on Jan. 31 and ordered held for arraignment on Monday.