Taunton man convicted of molesting preteen step-grandson

Crime

Prosecutors say 73-year-old Fred Walker molested the victim while the victim was visiting his grandmother’s home.

A Bristol County jury has convicted a 73-year-old Taunton man of molesting his preteen step-grandson multiple times over nearly three years, according to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office. 

After a three-day trial in Fall River Superior Court last week, the jury convicted Fred Walker of indecent assault and battery on a person under the age of 14, the DA’s office said in a press release Tuesday. Judge Susan Sullivan sentenced Walker to five to eight years in prison

Between July 2018 and May 2021, Walker molested the victim on multiple occasions when the victim was spending time at his grandmother’s Taunton home, the release said. The victim testified about the abuse at the trial.

The victim’s mother testified that she would leave her two sons at her mother’s home a few times per month when her work schedule required it, the release said. The victim’s older brother told the jury he saw the victim and Walker alone in two separate rooms of the home with the door shut. He also said the victim revealed the abuse to him less than an hour after learning that Walker was planning to move to Nevada.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, a warrant was issued for Walker’s arrest in February 2022. In April 2022, the Marshals Service determined that he was likely living with a family member in Londonderry, New Hampshire, and arrested him there. 

“The defendant took advantage of his access to the victim when they were home alone and subjected him to very degrading and offensive touching. I commend the victim for his courage in persevering through this ordeal,” Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III said in the release.