
SPRINGFIELD — A suspended Springfield police officer with a criminal assault case already pending was arrested and charged with sexual assault on a child.
Daniel J. Cintron, 28, was arrested late Thursday at his home in Monson. He is facing eight counts of rape of a child with force, five counts of indecent assault and battery on a child and five counts of witness intimidation.
The alleged offenses occurred in 2015, according to court documents.
Police spokesman Ryan Walsh said the department’s Major Crimes Unit, under the direction of Capt. Trent Duda, began investigating “serious allegations” against Cintron last week.
Springfield police applied for an arrest warrant and Monson police took Cintron into custody, Walsh said.
The arrest comes less than a year after he was charged with assault and witness intimidation in September. That case, which is pending, was brought after Cintron and another man allegedly were involved in a violent confrontation with three teens outside the Eastfield Mall.
The prosecutor requested $5,000 cash bail for Cintron, saying he abused his authority as a police officer during a confrontation with a 15-year-old male over text messages exchanged with the officer’s friend’s younger sister.
Cintron’s co-defendant in that case, Matthew Matoon, 31, punched one of the teens and Cintron intervened, flashing his badge, according to witnesses. Cintron has been out on bail and suspended without pay since that incident.
Cintron was arraigned in Springfield District Court Friday and held without bail until a dangerousness hearing, scheduled for May 23. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was led away in handcuffs.
Judge John Payne also granted a one-year restraining order for a woman who appeared in court on behalf of two minors. Cintron’s attorney waived the formal reading of the charges, so few details were immediately offered in court.
Source: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/05/suspended_springfield_police_o_2.html