Shrewsbury Man Allegedly Drove to Rhode Island to Have Sex With a Teen (Or So He Thought)

SHREWSBURY, MA — A Shrewsbury man was indicted on charges after he allegedly drove to Rhode Island this summer to engage in sex with who he thought would be a 15-year-old girl.

Alexander Viola, 28, of Shrewsbury, was indicted and arraigned on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Providence on a charge of traveling across state lines with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

Investigators say that Viola traveled to Rhode Island in July, intending to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old he had been talking with on the Internet. The "15-year-old" was actually a Rhode Island State Police trooper who is assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

It is alleged that for about 10 days beginning in early July, Viola communicated online and by text message with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old girl, and the conversations turned sexual.

On July 12, 2016, Viola allegedly traveled to Rhode Island from his Massachusetts residence with the intent to meet with the girl and to engage in sexual activity. When he got there, however, Viola was arrested by members of the ICAC Task Force. He was released following an appearance in Rhode Island state court.

Viola, arrested on a federal arrest warrant on Tuesday by members of the ICAC Task Force and HSI agents, was released on unsecured bond with electronic monitoring following his arraignment before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan.