Human services employee arrested on child solicitation charges

The Rhode Island State Police announce that members of the State Police Computer Crimes Unit, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force have arrested an employee with the Rhode Island Department of Human Services for two counts of Indecent Solicitation of a Child and one count of Electronically Disseminating Indecent Material to a Minor.

Dennis J. Lopes, age 64, of 21 Jackson Flat Road, Hope, Rhode Island was arrested on Friday, November 8, 2019, after an investigation into an individual allegedly sending indecent sexual material to a person, whom he believed to be 14-years-old. As a result of the investigation, members of the ICAC Task Force were able to identify the individual as Dennis J. Lopes after he arrived to meet the juvenile at a predetermined location in Warwick.

Dennis J. Lopes is currently employed as a Senior Resource Specialist with the Individual Family Support Services section of the Department of Human Services. Lopes was arraigned on Friday at the State Police Wickford Barracks before Justice of the Peace Robinson and released on $10,000.00 personal recognizance. Lopes is scheduled for a bail review at Third Division District Court (Kent County) on December 3, 2019.

A person found guilty of Indecent Solicitation of a Child shall be imprisoned for not less than five years. A person found guilty Electronically Disseminating Indecent Material to a Minor may be subject to imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or both.

The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force actively engages in investigative efforts to identify subjects involved in child exploitation-related activities. The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force Program is administered by the Rhode Island State Police and supports a national network of multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task forces engaged in investigations, forensic examinations, and prosecutions related to Internet crimes against children and technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation. The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force is comprised of members of the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit along with detectives from the Warwick Police Department, Cranston Police Department, Newport Police Department, East Providence Police Department, Bristol Police Department, North Kingstown Police Department, Woonsocket Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations.