Williams College Senior Reported as Missing Found Unharmed

Nathaniel Whittle

Updated, March 10, 2 p.m.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williamstown Police Department announced Friday afternoon that a Williams College student who had been reported missing on Wednesday was found unharmed.

Police said Nathaniel Luke Whittle, 23, a senior from Texas, was safe and in contact with his family.

Whittle was reported missing to police on Wednesday after last having been seen Monday at a bank in Bloomfield, Conn.

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williamstown Police Department is seeking the public's assistance in locating a missing Williams College student.

Nathaniel Luke Whittle, 23, a senior from Texas, was reported missing to police on Wednesday. At this time, law enforcement does not believe this is a matter of suspicious circumstances. However, authorities are concerned for Whittle's well-being as he may be in need of mental health treatment.

He was last seen Monday at a bank in Bloomfield, Conn.

Whittle is described as a white male, standing 6-foot-1, weighing 180 to 200 pounds and operating a gray Toyota Tacoma extended-cab pickup truck with Texas plate number CBJ0333.

A nationwide broadcast has been sent to all law enforcement agencies requesting assistance.

If anyone has information concerning this matter, contact Sgt. Scott McGowan at the Williamstown Police Department at 413-458-5733.

Williamstown Woman Charged in Hit-And-Run Accident

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A 34-year-old Williamstown woman has been charged in an apparent hit-and-run accident on Cold Spring Road on Oct. 1, police announced on Wednesday.

Witnesses Sought in Williamstown Hit-and-Run

Police are searching for a vehicle like this one in connection with the accident.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Police are seeking witnesses to an apparent hit-and-run accident on Saturday on Route 7.

At about 9:30 p.m., Williamstown Police officers responded to a 911 call for an injured woman in the roadway on Cold Spring Road (Route 7), just south of the ‘6 House Pub.

Officers found Wendy McCarthy, 51, of Cold Spring Road had been struck by a southbound vehicle. Vehicle parts recovered at the scene indicate it was a 2014 Ford Escape, color black.

McCarthy suffered serious, non-life threatening injuries to the right side of her body.

Police are seeking the public’s health in identifying the vehicle involved. It may have damage to the driver’s side front, and it is missing the driver side mirror.

Anyone with information is asked to call 413-458-5733.

Williamstown Man Sentenced in Child Sex Abuse Case

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A local man was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Springfield in connection with persuading a 16-year-old boy to travel to New York three years ago to engage in sexual activity.

Ronald S. Brown, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 15 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release.

In November 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and one count of possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.

Brown, a registered sex offender based upon a prior conviction for a sexual assault of a 14-year-old, engaged in thousands of online interactions with a 16-year-old boy between Dec. 27, 2012, and Jan. 19, 2013, to persuade him to run away from his Midwestern home to engage in sexual activity.  

On Jan. 7, 2013, Brown sent the boy a one-way ticket to fly to Newark International Airport in New Jersey, and on Jan. 19, 2013, Brown picked the boy up at the Newark airport, and then transported him to New York to engage in sex. On three separate dates, Brown also sexually exploited the teenager by producing visual images of the minor engaging in lewd and lascivious conduct.

The boy was recovered in New York after his mother alerted police that her son was missing and believed to be meeting with Brown.  During an interview on Jan. 20, 2013, Brown falsely told a federal agent that he believed the child to be 18 years old.

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Harold H. Shaw, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The case was investigated with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police, the Williamstown Police Department and the New York State Police.  It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz's Springfield Branch Office.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. 

Williamstown Couple Arraigned in Hit-and-Run Incident

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — An elderly Williamstown couple were arraigned Thursday afternoon in Berkshire Superior Court on charges of covering up a motor vehicle accident that severely injured their neighbor.

John T. Gould and Sally J. Gould of White Oaks Roads enter not-guilty pleas on a host of charges related to the Feb. 9 hit-and-run incident in which pedestrian Cheryl J. Leclaire, 54, was found injured on North Hoosac Road.

Leclaire was taken to Berkshire Medical Center with serious injuries after a passing motorist found her lying by the side of the road.

Sally Gould, 71, was allegedly driving the car that hit Leclaire and her husband allegedly aided her in covering up the incident.

Sally Gould entered a not-guilty plea on leaving the scene of a personal injury accident.

She and her husband, 69, both entered pleas of not guilty on single counts each of misleading a police officer or other person; conspiracy, to wit: misleading a police officer or other person; and conspiracy, to wit: filing a false motor vehicle claim; and two counts each of filing a false motor vehicle insurance claim.

Judge John A. Agostini released both Goulds on personal recognizance.

Police say that after Leclaire was struck on Feb. 9 while walking her dog, the Goulds gave false statements to investigators and filed false insurance claims. Those incidents are alleged to have occurred in Williamstown between Feb. 10 and Feb. 16. They were arrested in late February.

The investigation was conducted by members of the Williamstown Police Department and state police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section.