BOSTON -- A Rhode Island man accused of inappropriately touching a 4-year-old boy in a bathroom at a local grocery store failed to show up for his arraignment in Taunton District Court on Tuesday.
Valerio Rodriguez, 71, of Providence, R.I., was charged with indecent assault and battery after he allegedly reached under a bathroom partition at Market Basket and touched the boy on his leg while the boy was standing on a bucket using a urinal.
The man is an employee at the grocery store.
The boy’s father, Jason R. Beatrice, 31, of Raynham, who was also in the bathroom, told police he forced open the stall and punched Rodriguez several times.
Police charged Beatrice with assault. Police said they empathized with the boy's father, but would have preferred if Beatrice had detained the suspect until police arrived.
A default warrant was issued for Rodriguez on Tuesday.
Beatrice is scheduled to be arraigned on July 31.
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