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Prison time sentenced for lewdness

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | Feb 21, 2019

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Lawrence Larocque, who was sentenced Tuesday to 3-6 years in State Prison on a felony indecent exposure–lewdness charge stemming from a 2017 incident in Nashua, enters Superior Court for his plea and sentencing hearing.

NASHUA – The former Massachusetts man Nashua police charged in September with lewdly fondling himself in the presence of a young girl, was sent to State Prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to a felony offense.

Lawrence Larocque, 51, agreed to enter a guilty plea to one count of indecent exposure – lewdness, in exchange for a term of three to six years in State Prison and other conditions.

Assistant County Attorney Nicole Thorspecken, who prosecuted the case, said the girl and her family were acquainted with Larocque, and one day in late fall 2017 the girl’s mother asked him to give the girl a ride to her friend’s house for a sleepover.

The girl, according to Thorspecken, asked Larocque to stop by her house so she could pick up some things. When she returned to the car, the girl later said in a statement, Larocque “proceeded to masturbate … which made her uncomfortable,” Thorspecken said, relaying what the girl wrote in the statement.

It wasn’t until June that the girl disclosed the incident, at which time her family contacted police.

Police said at the time they took the girl’s statement and launched an investigation, which led to a warrant being issued for Larocque’s arrest.

In the meantime, police said, detectives discovered Larocque had a history of arrests on sex-related offenses in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and was a registered sex offender.

Among the charges, detectives found seven previous convictions for what police called “similar offenses,” two of which they said involved juvenile victims.

Officers took Larocque into custody in late September, and he has been held in jail since.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Larocque, accompanied by his attorneys, Kara Simard and Jeannie Lieder, answered each of Judge Charles Temple’s questions appropriately before entering the agreed-to guilty plea.

Neither he nor his attorneys addressed the court, other than to respond to the judge.

Other terms of the agreement include Larocque receiving credit for the 146 days he’s spent in jail, which knocks roughly five months off his minimum sentence.

He is ordered to have no contact with the victim, and to participate in any educational, treatment or counseling programs recommended by prison officials.

The agreement includes a sentencing addendum in which the court recommends Larocque undergo a sex-offender assessment and follow any treatment recommendations.

He must also update his status with the state’s Sex Offender Registry.

While the victim and her family weren’t present for the hearing, Thorspecken said “they are OK with this,” referring to the plea deal.

“They wanted more time, but they’re OK with it,” she added, referring to Larocque’s prison sentence.

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