NASHUA – In an interview with police following his arrest in June on charges accusing him of using online apps to solicit sex from a person he thought was an underage girl, Joshua Carrasquillo began “to show signs of being truthful,” and “eventually admitted” he came to Nashua to meet that “person,” a Nashua police detective testified at Carrasquillo’s court hearing.

That it wasn’t clear whether Carrasquillo specified he believed the “person” was a 15 years old, and that he initially allegedly told police he was in Nashua “running errands” and having lunch, those and other points Carrasquillo’s lawyer, Attorney Tony Naro, made during his client’s probable cause hearing raise enough doubt about the allegations that Carrasquillo should be granted bail, Naro told the court.

Police filed three felony charges against Carrasquillo, 37, of 170 Hollis St., Pepperell, Mass., after members of a New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force took him into custody in June at a Harris Road-area park where he allegedly arranged to meet with the girl for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.

But Judge Charles Temple disagreed with Naro’s assessment of the arguments put forth at the hearing, and in the end affirmed his original ruling that Carrasquillo be held on preventive detention as his case proceeds in Hillsborough County Superior Court South.

That original ruling came the day after Carrasquillo’s arrest by the task force, which was part of a three-day Operation Cyber Guardian initiative the task force conducted in May.

Meanwhile, authorities on Tuesday added another name to the list of people arrested in connection with the operation when they took into custody Richard Lemere, 56, of 119A Ferry St. in Hudson, according to police, who said officers arrested him on a warrant after they pulled over the vehicle he was driving in Nashua.

They charged Lemere with three counts of indecent exposure and lewdness, and one count of attempted certain uses of computer services prohibited, all Class B felonies.

Lemere was jailed overnight pending arraignment Wednesday, but the prosecution and defense came to an agreement that rendererd arraignment or a bail hearing unnecessary. Indications are Lemere was to be released on personal recognizance bail.

Similar to many of the other men arrested in connection with the May Operation Cyber Guardian, police allege Lemere, “during the course of the investigation, (allegedly) transmitted three lewd photographs of himself” to a person “he believed to be a juvenile … and also made arrangements to travel to Nashua to engage in sexual contact with the person,” police said.

As for Carrasquillo, Temple agreed in his ruling with the prosecutor, Assistant County Attorney Nicole Thorspecken, who argued that whether or not police found the app he allegedly used to communicate with the person on his phone, there is more than enough probable cause because Carrasquillo “admitted to police he used” the app.

Thorspecken referred to testimony by Nashua police detective Caleb Gilbert, who said the officers who arrested Carrasquillo noticed him “fumbling with his phone” as they approached his car.

He apparently succeeded in deleting the app before police seized his phone; the app wasn’t found during a later search of the phone’s contents, Gilbert said.

But the mere allegation that Carrasquillo began manipulating his phone upon seeing police is a strong indicator that probable cause exists, Thorspecken said.

“If you see police officers coming toward you, and you start fumbling with your phone, that’s probable cause right there,” she said.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DeanS.