Saugus man accused of affair with son’s underage ex-girlfriend

SAUGUS – Police say a town man allegedly carried on a sexual relationship with his son’s ex-girlfriend for nearly two years.The suspect, James Steven Beal, 46, of 27 Jasper St., was charged with aggravated rape of a child and arraigned Monday at Lynn District Court. Beal posted $10,000 cash bail and was ordered to not have unsupervised contact with children under 18, abide by a restraining order, not have contact with the victim, surrender all firearms and keep probation up to date on his current address. Beal is due back in court on Sept. 6. He declined to comment on his case during a phone interview.According to court documents, police were contacted on Aug. 1 by Beal’s wife who, in between hysterically crying, said she believed her husband was carrying on a relationship with a child. She went on to say that her 14-year-old son had been dating a girl approximately two years ago and that she continued to come over their house even after they had broken up.Court documents allege that Beal said he liked to keep the young girl around because he “wanted to be a father figure for her” because she “didn’t have a good home life.” The documents further stated that Beal allegedly talked about the victim constantly, remarked on “how perfect she was” and that his cellular phone records indicate he regularly called the victim.Beal’s wife allegedly told police that over the weekend of July 22, the victim attended a sleep over at the Beals’ summer home on Cape Cod, where she told other girls that she had “done things” with Beal. An adult at the sleep over was told what happened, who then contacted the police.According to court documents, police interviewed the victim on Aug. 2, who said she had been dating Beal’s son in May of 2009. After the two broke up, she said she continued to go over his house. But a few months later, in October, the victim said her relationship changed with Beal. She alleged that Beal began to call and text message her on a regular basis, made sexual advances toward her and instant messaged her with the screen name “A PINK PANTHER.”Documents show that the victim alleged she was touched inappropriately in Beal’s car “20 times” near Lynn Woods and then “a couple of times” at Prankers Pond in Saugus and elsewhere in Revere. The victim said the Lynn Police allegedly caught them in the act one time, took their names down and told them to leave the area.When police contacted Beal to get his side of the story, he allegedly said he didn’t trust the Saugus Police because he was previously arrested on “false allegations” made by his daughter.Documents show that police seized a handwritten copy of Beal’s last will and testament that he allegedly gave to the victim, along with a necklace and a teddy bear on Valentine’s Day. The victim told police that she confided in her friends about her alleged relationship with Beal because she was afraid of him and that Beal had allegedly threatened to tell her mother when she tried to stop seeing him.