NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A homeless man who was given a warm bed and some loving care by a Massachusetts lottery winner was arrested Thursday for failing to register as a sex offender.
Glenn Williams, 59, was picked up by police at a first-floor apartment on Parker Street in the West End where he was staying with another woman, police spokesman Detective Capt. Steven Vicente said.
A Wareham detective called New Bedford police prior to Williams' arrest, said Vicente, who didn't know details of the call. But he confirmed that Williams is a Level II sex offender.
The specific charge, from 1994, was indecent assault on a child under 14 years of age, according to records from the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board.
Williams' short-lived brush with good fortune and media attention began Sunday, when Wareham resident Sofia Andrade spotted the man at a stop sign in New Bedford holding a sign that read: "Homeless. Please anything would help."
Andrade, a single mom with three children, had just collected $200 in lottery winnings and said she saw it as a sign to help the man out on a freezing night. She picked him up, bought him a coffee and a paid for a room in a Wareham motel with her winnings.
(See Massachusetts woman spent lottery winnings to help homeless man, Lottery Post, Feb. 16, 2016.)
"He couldn't stop crying, he was so overwhelmed with gratitude," Andrade wrote on the GoFundMe page she later created with her childhood friend Elizabeth Arone of New Bedford. The account raised more than $8,500 in one day and by Thursday afternoon had accumulated a total of $17,370 from nearly 700 donors.
The GoFundMe page has since been taken offline.
Andrade's Facebook post about her act of kindness went viral Monday and helped connect Williams with his two sisters in Westport, who visited him at the motel where he was staying, Arone said.
"Glenn is speechless," Arone said Tuesday. "He can't go a few minutes without having tears in his eyes... He is so incredibly grateful for the support he has received."
The women who helped Williams continue to stand by him after his arrest.
"The new 'information' about Glenn will not ruin our efforts to help humanize the homeless community," said Arone who is glad he is in a safe place.
"Although I am sad for Glenn... He can now clear his name and get the detox he needs," she said. "Last time we spoke he was suicidal, very overwhelmed and just so heartbroken. I feel for him."
In a Facebook post, Andrade wrote: "We did not discriminate in helping another human in need. We did not make and will continue to not make judgments about anybody in this situation."
"Anyone making judgements or statements dictating where this money should go please know that it is GLENN who has told us that he wants HIS money to go to local charities that provide services, food, clothing, etc. to homelessness," Arone said in a Facebook message to The Standard-Times. One of the charities Williams mentioned is Mobile Loaves & Fishes that provides food to the homeless.
Arone later said they are not sure if anyone can access the funds raised as GoFundMe suspended the account late Thursday in the wake of disputes over the money.
Also according to Arone, the judge released Williams, wearing an ankle bracelet, to the woman he's staying with.
Arone released a statement Thursday that she said Williams asked her to write on his behalf:
"This black cloud has followed me for 15 years. I was dating a woman after my divorce who had two daughters, one of which who didn't like seeing a new man with her mother. She was mean to me from the very first day until the stress took a toll on our relationship and we had to break up. After we broke up, her mother became obsessive. Out of nowhere I am being charged with 'indecent assault.' The daughter said I 'touched' her inappropriately. I had a public defender who recommended I take a plea bargain to get this over with. I never realized what that would really mean ... that I would become a sex offender. These allegations have ruined my life, causing me to lose my job, my life, respect. I eventually fell into homelessness 3 years ago. I am humiliated by these lies. I want to kill myself."
Where is Perry Mason when you need him?
If his story is correct, he could use someone like a Perry Mason!! Would not be the first time, someone was wrongly convicted, by not knowing what they were signing.
THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT GO DOWN WELL WITH ME!
This oldman really touched many people's heart few day's ago,and we all raised over 17,000/= for him,and now 3 day's later he is reported as a sex offender!
Anyone want to take book on who reported him?
From what I read all the proceeds are going to homeless shelters there are many at the shelters that need the help so this is a good thing no matter what all those that gave are still helping those in need.
Perhaps he did it. Perhaps he did not.
Let us not be too fast with giving this man empathy.
Bless this lady for understanding the good deeds.
May this man have peace.
If that poor, homeless man had never before been accused of child molestation and was never subsequently accused of it, then I'm of the opinion that he never did it. From what I understand about pedophilia, the perpetrator is usually unable to stop from committing such acts and requires extensive counselling.
Obviously, this man in the past fifteen years has not had any accusations of this nature levelled at him (at least as far as is known), therefore it stands to reason that he quite possibly may not suffer from this pre-disposition, but instead may be the victim of false accusations. Whatever the case, I will pray on this situation that the real wickedness here be exposed and dealt with effectively to the benefit and good of all parties concerned.
At the end of the day, human-beings need to HELP each other, not HURT each other, because trust me, in the end you pay for the wrong you've done to each other unless you are truly remorseful, repent and forgive.
20 years ago people were as vile, dishonest and underhanded as they are today.
Quick to temper, judge and crucify in the name of justice for one...usually it ends up being
justice for the wrong party anyway. The American justice system is a joke. I buy his story.
Sounds as if it could happen. Jilted persons are capable of much more than this and when it
comes to bad relationships, usually the longer suffering the better. People need to move on,
get over it and let go. Revenge is such a factor in society today that it drives the seemingly
most levelheaded people to lose their senses and sensibility. It's immaturity at its finest and
occurs all around us everyday, even here. It's laughable some posters exude a stench masked
as benevolence and purity and is taken by most onlookers as being a blessing for all in method and
message but in their own knowing little minds are as far away from good as the devil himself.
This woman may have prompted her daughter to conjure up a story or not. Timing considered,
it seems too coincidental charges were brought against this man that followed him and destroyed
him. There is a price to pay in the end.
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An acquaintance of my Father went through the same thing in the 90's. This guy who l will call Gary started going out with this woman whose daughter hated the sight of a new man in her Mom's life. One morning after a sleep over he comes out of the shower with a towel around his waist- this 15 year old claims he exposed himself to her and suggested some nasty stuff. Next thing he knows he has to register as a sex offender. Very unfair, but l guess that's life. All the best Glen.
Well stated. Love your respinse.
Stories like this happen more than people realize and guy (usually male) gets branded for life. Not saying there aren't a bunch of psycho sexual predators out there; there is. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the girl was lying. Sometimes people's conscience gets the best of them and they confess to lying. Sad, very sad, but we'll never know what, if anything, really transpired.