Massachusetts state police said Wednesday that a fugitive wanted on a charge of sexual contact with a minor in Fall River was arrested in Rhode Island.
State police said Thomas Almeida was captured Sunday at Rhode Island TF Green International Airport, where he was waiting for a flight to Florida, WJAR reported.
According to authorities, Almeida fled Massachusetts in 2018, possibly to Florida, after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was accused of sexual contact with a minor under 18 years of age.
Almeida, 57, was the latest defendant in a sex trafficking investigation not to have been arrested.
State police said a girl was held against her will, drugged and forced to engage in sexual acts.
“Two defendants who trafficked the minor were previously convicted following prosecution by the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office and were sentenced to long terms in state prison,” state police said in a statement.
State police said the Fall River police Major Crimes Unit developed information that Almeida may have been in the area.
Members of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Violent Fugitives task forces determined that Almeida was at TF Green Airport, where he was taken into custody without incident Sunday afternoon. Almeida was being held in Rhode Island as a fugitive, awaiting his return to Massachusetts to face prosecution.
