FREETOWN, MA — For over four years, the quiet, historic resting places of Freetown bore the scars of a calculated and deeply unsettling campaign of desecration. From shattered headstones bearing hateful symbols to explicit threats hurled at the town’s top law enforcement officials, the incidents shook a community that prides itself on honoring its past.
Now, closure has finally arrived.
On October 14, 2026, 24-year-old Jacob Dupuis stood before the Fall River District Court, where a years-long shroud of mystery and frustration was pierced by a definitive admission of guilt. Dupuis pleaded guilty to a slate of six serious criminal charges, bringing a harrowing chapter of local history to a close.
A Trail of Desecration Across Freetown
The nightmare began unfolding on March 15, 2022. Officers responding to White Cemetery on Keene Road discovered a grim scene: numerous historic gravestones had been defaced with stark red spray paint. Among the graffiti were swastikas and offensive messages directly targeting law enforcement.
Just two days later, the violence and hostility escalated. Investigators were called to Profile Rock after discovering the burned remnants of suspected Molotov cocktails near a scorched patch of land. Similar graffiti linked the location directly back to the cemetery attacks.
The desecrations were far from isolated. On May 6, 2022, a devastating second strike at White Cemetery left 34 headstones and memorial markers defaced. Weeks later, on June 3, the Assonet Burying Ground on South Main Street was targeted, with vandals striking both gravestones and a storage shed. Among the threatening messages scrawled across the property were attacks directed at then-Police Chief Carlton E. Abbott—who tragically passed away in January 2026 before seeing the case resolved.
Despite stepped-up patrols, heightened surveillance, and exhaustive investigative work, the trail went cold. Weeks turned into months, leaving grieving families and community caretakers searching for answers.
The Breakthrough
The investigation took a critical turn in November 2023 when similar graffiti popped up on a residential property in Fall River. The writing referenced the late Chief Abbott and revealed insider details regarding the 2022 Profile Rock incident—information that had never been shared with the public. Investigators suddenly had a fresh, vital link.
The definitive breakthrough finally materialized in July 2025. Sergeant Douglas Mongeon received a tip pointing toward Dupuis as a primary suspect. Backed by subsequent investigative legwork from Sergeant Mongeon, Patrolman Kobey Imbert, and Detective Shane Kelley, authorities secured crucial witness statements that bound Dupuis inextricably to the years-long campaign of vandalism.
The Sentence and Community Reflection
In court, Dupuis entered guilty pleas for:
- Possession or Control of an Incendiary Device or Material
- Vandalizing a Gravestone (two counts)
- Vandalizing Property
- Malicious Destruction of Property Over $1,200
- Tagging Property
Dupuis was sentenced to 18 months in the House of Correction, with 90 days to serve and the remainder suspended over two years of supervised probation. As strict conditions of his probation, he has been ordered to undergo mental health counseling and complete 200 hours of community service.
In the wake of the resolution, the Freetown Police Department issued a public statement extending deep appreciation to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, local officers, cemetery caretakers, and community members.
“We recognize the impact these incidents had on those whose loved ones’ final resting places were vandalized,” shared Lieutenant Benjamin A. Levesque, Public Information Officer for the department. “We hope this resolution provides some measure of closure.”
