LEBANON — A 54-year-old Newmarket, N.H., man has been charged with attempted sex crimes after police say he traveled across the state to meet someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl.
John E. Vadala III was indicted last week on felony counts of certain uses of computer services, attempted indecent exposure and attempted sexual assault following his arrest on July 7.
The charges stemmed from an investigation police started in June, when Lebanon Police Officer Eric Hunter published an ad on Craigslist, pretending to be a 15-year-old girl looking for “a man,” according to an affidavit written by Hunter. Vadala reached out and started messaging the officer, thinking he was speaking with a teenage girl, the affidavit said. In text messages, Vadala made sexually explicit comments, sent sexually explicit pictures and repeatedly urged the girl to not let her family or friends know about him, according to police. At one point he wrote, “I could get in serious trouble with your age,” the affidavit said.
Vadala arranged to meet the person he thought was a teenage girl on Market Street in West Lebanon, where police were waiting and took him into custody on July 7, the affidavit said.
A future court date for Vadala has not been set.