New details revealed after Mass. police officer caught in human trafficking sting (2025)

An off-duty Fall River police officer pulled up to Charlestown last week in his grey Dodge Ram and expected to meet a 15-year-old girl.

Moments later, Boston police officers working with Massachusetts State Police surrounded his truck and caught him on April 4 as part of a human trafficking sting in the Charlestown neighborhood, according to his arrest report.

Mitchell Walsh, 28, pleaded not guilty on Monday to four counts linked to the sting: enticing a child under 16, attempting to commit a crime, paying for sexual conduct with a child under 18, and possession to distribute a Class B drug.

Walsh communicated with an undercover police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl for six weeks, promised to pay $200 for sex, and said he would bring cocaine and alcohol to their meet up, according to court filings with Boston Municipal Court’s division in Charlestown.

Judge Lisa Grant ordered Walsh held on $5,000 bail and set certain conditions should he post it: stay away from children under 18; stay away from Charlestown except for court; hand in his passport; and submit to substance abuse evaluation.

An attorney listed for Walsh did not immediately return a request for comment.

At about 10:40 p.m. last Friday, police arrested Walsh in the area of Monument Street and Walford Way.

Police had previously set up the sting with undercover advertisements on websites commonly used by people who are trafficked and where people want to buy sex from victims, the report stated.

Walsh had texted with an undercover agent for weeks and snippets of the conversations were included in the police report.

“You sure this ain’t a scam,” he texted at one point.

Later on, he wrote, “How about 200 I’ll bring essentials and we have night.”

During the texting threads, Walsh made several phone calls using Facetime and he discussed bringing cocaine, a bottle of Tito’s vodka, and mini alcohol bottles.

“Let me get atleast 2 hrs,” “Will have some fun,” and “Do you like party at all,” were among the messages he sent, the report stated.

When Walsh arrived in Charlestown last week, law enforcement approached him and identified themselves before immediately removing him from the truck and arresting him, the report stated.

Police recovered several items from his truck, including a medium-sized plastic bag containing a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine, two plastic bags in his wallet believed to contain cocaine, and an empty pen with the drug.

A Tito’s vodka bottle rolled out of the backseat of the truck as police opened the rear door and it smashed on the ground, the report stated. Mini alcohol bottles were also found in the center console.

The officer pretending to be a 15-year-old called the number she’d communicated with and confirmed it belonged to Walsh, the report stated.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for May 5.

In an announcement on Saturday, the Fall River Police Department said that Walsh’s employment is under review.

He was already on extended leave from the police department due to unrelated personnel matters when he was arrested, the department said in a press release.

“Prior to this incident, the Department was preparing to initiate formal proceedings under the civil service disciplinary process. His employment status is now under further review in light of these serious new developments,” the release reads.

“The conduct alleged is reprehensible and stands in direct opposition to the values we expect from members of this Department,” Fall River Police Chief Kelly Furtado said in the release.

“We take these matters extremely seriously and are fully cooperating with the Boston Police Department. There is no place in law enforcement for anyone who violates the public’s trust.”