Man pleads guilty in 2022 Freetown cemetery vandalism case, ordered to serve 90 days in jail

FREETOWN A 24-year-old man pleaded guilty Wednesday, Oct. 14, in Fall River District Court to six charges tied to a series of 2022 vandalism incidents at Freetown cemeteries and Profile Rock, Freetown police said.

Jacob Dupuis was sentenced to 18 months in the House of Correction, with 90 days to serve and the rest suspended for two years of probation, according to a statement the department posted Oct. 15. As conditions of probation, he was ordered to take part in mental health counseling and to complete 200 hours of community service, police said.

Dupuis pleaded guilty to possession or control of an incendiary device or material, two counts of vandalizing a gravestone, vandalizing property, malicious destruction of property over $1,200 and tagging property, according to the statement.

What happened in 2022

The investigation began March 15, 2022, when Freetown police responded to White Cemetery on Keene Road after numerous gravestones were defaced with red spray paint, the department said. The vandalism included swastikas, symbols and messages aimed at law enforcement.

Two days later, on March 17, officers investigated an incident at Profile Rock, where the remnants of suspected Molotov cocktails were found near an area that had burned, police said. Similar graffiti there led investigators to suspect a connection to the cemetery vandalism.

More vandalism was discovered at White Cemetery on May 6, 2022, where 34 headstones and memorial markers had been defaced, police said. On June 3, 2022, police responded to the Assonet Burying Ground on South Main Street, where numerous gravestones and a cemetery shed had been vandalized. The graffiti included threatening messages, some aimed at then-Police Chief Carlton E. Abbott, who died in January 2026, according to the statement.

How police identified Dupuis

No suspect was identified at first, despite increased patrols and surveillance of the cemeteries, the department said. In November 2023, similar graffiti on a home in Fall River mentioned Abbott and included details about the Profile Rock incident that police had not made public, according to the statement.

In July 2025, Sgt. Douglas Mongeon received information naming Dupuis as a possible suspect, police said. Further work by Mongeon, Patrolman Kobey Imbert and Detective Shane Kelley produced witness statements connecting him to the incidents, which led to the charges and the plea, according to the department.

The department credited its investigating officers and thanked the Bristol County District Attorney's Office for its work on the case. It also thanked the affected families, cemetery caretakers and community members for their patience and cooperation. "We recognize the impact these incidents had on those whose loved ones' final resting places were vandalized and hope this resolution provides some measure of closure," the statement says. It was signed by Lt. Benjamin A. Levesque, the department's public information officer.

What we do not know yet

The police statement does not name a lawyer for Dupuis or give his hometown. South Coast 360 asked the Freetown Police Department on Sunday afternoon for a statement, the docket number and the name of Dupuis' lawyer so we could ask for his side; the department had not replied as of publishing. We have not yet seen the court file, which is kept at the Fall River District Court clerk's office. We will add any response from Dupuis or a lawyer for him.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.