ORANGE — An Athol man recently pleaded not guilty to three sexual assault charges stemming from alleged incidents involving a young girl that occurred prior to the summer of 2013.

William T. McBride, 59, of Brattle Street, was arraigned in Orange District Court on one count of rape of a child and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. He was released on personal recognizance and is due back in court for a pretrial conference on Nov. 7.

According to court documents, a woman contacted Athol Police Detective Douglas Kaczmarczyk on July 20, 2021, to say she wanted to pursue criminal charges against McBride after speaking with her therapist.

The woman reported that when she was 11 years old, she started sleeping over at the house where McBride lived. She regularly slept over there until the summer of 2013.

According to court documents, the woman reported waking up to McBride inappropriately touching her. She added that McBride touched her thigh on several occasions.

Court documents list McBride’s attorney as Darren Griffis, who did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-772-0261, ext. 262.

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