U.S. Marshals have apprehended a 62-year-old Centereach man wanted for alleged sex crimes against children in Massachusetts dating back more than 30 years ago, Suffolk County police said.
Paul Collins was arrested at his Pleasant Avenue home and charged with rape of a child by force, indecent assault and battery of a child under the age of 14 and open and gross lewdness.
Collins was arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip over the weekend before Arlington Police Department investigators took him back to Massachusetts, where he will face the charges, authorities said.
Collins was a swim coach and the Aquatics Director for the Arlington Boys and Girls Club between 1978 to 1980 when he met the four boys he is accused of victimizing, police said.
WCVB-TV in Boston reports that Collins in the second suspect to face such allegations in the three months since victims began coming forward.
Special Victims Section detectives are investigating if Collins, who lived in Suffolk for nearly a decade, committed similar crimes on Long Island and are asking anyone with information about him and possible victims to call investigators at 631-852-6184 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
