Police: Before death, doctor tried to meet girl at hotel
Police records allege that a Hartford Healthcare rheumatology chief recently arrested on child sexual exploitation charges had tried to meet a teenage girl for sex at a hotel but was instead met by undercover officers.
Dr. John Magaldi, who was the chief of rheumatology at the Hartford Healthcare Bone and Joint Institute, died by suicide in Litchfield
on Wednesday, days after he was arrested as part of a joint child exploitation sting between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Meriden Police Department.
Magaldi, 61, was arrested at a Holiday Inn in Meriden on March 8 after allegedly trying to meet with a 15-year-old girl for a pre-arranged sexual encounter, according to an incident report from the Meriden Police Department obtained by the Hartford Courant.
At the time of the incident, members of the Meriden Police Department were conducting an undercover operation “for the purpose of identifying and apprehending child sexual predators,” the report said.
According to the report, an undercover police officer was acting as a 15-year-old girl willing to engage in sexual activity for money, while an FBI agent pretended to be her aunt and handler.
The police report stated that an ad was posted on the Skip the Games platform at 4:20 p.m., including a list of activities the girl would be willing to engage in and four photos of the undercover officer pretending to be an underage female.
In the post, “words commonly used by sex predators to identify underage females were used to suggest that the female was not old enough to consent to sexual activity,” according to the police report.
According to police, sex workers often use Skip the Game to advertise and connect with potential clients. Police said the platform has previously been successful “in identifying and apprehending child sex predators, who were under the impression that they would be engaging in sexual activities with underage females.”
The number listed for the female on the website was moni
“The news of the arrest and death of Dr. John Magaldi is deeply troubling. We are ensuring all patients will continue to be cared for, and we are providing support for our colleagues.” — Statement from Hartford Healthcare
tored by undercover officers, the police report said. During the operation, the undercover number was contacted by a phone number allegedly belonging to Magaldi, according to the police report.
The text messages, published in the police report, show a person police allege to be Magaldi asking whose photo it was on Skip the Game and questioning: “How much?” to which the undercover officer replied, “Harley … shes 15 … what u lookin for.”
After discussing prices, the person allegedly agreed to a half hour meet-up for $100. The person texted that they would be at the hotel between 7:15 and 7:20 p.m. and then wrote to tell the undercover officer they had arrived, according to the police report.
The undercover agent then instructed the person where to go, texting “left door come to the 3rd floor room 314,” the report showed.
In the report, police said that there were “multiple surveillance vehicles” watching Magaldi in the parking lot.
Surveillance teams reportedly saw Magaldi go to the left door of the building, and then go back to his vehicle. He then returned to the left door, entered and walked to the third floor. He reportedly walked past Room 314, then turned around and came back, according to the report.
As Magaldi walked into the room, he was asked to show his hands, police said in the report. He allegedly reached down to his pocket and began to resist arrest, according to the report.
Magaldi was placed in custody and searched, police said in the report. He was allegedly found in possession of two sex toys and $100 in cash at the time of his arrest, according to the report.
Magaldi was arrested along with two other men and charged with attempting to make sexual contact with victims younger than 16 years old.
Magaldi also was charged with criminal attempt at risk of injury, sexual contact with a victim under the age of 16, criminal attempted second-degree sexual assault and criminal attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor and interfering with police.
He was free on a $350,000 bond when he died, court records show.
On Thursday, Connecticut State Police could only confirm that troopers assigned to Troop L in Litchfield, along with EMS, responded to a report of an unresponsive individual at a location on White Wood Road in Litchfield at 9:17 a.m. Wednesday. An adult male was located, state police said, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Magaldi’s death and said an autopsy was performed Thursday. According to the medical examiner, Magaldi died by suicide by gunshot wound.
Magaldi worked at the Bone and Joint Institutes at Hartford Hospital and Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington. He had been placed on administrative leave following his arrest, according to a spokesperson for Hartford Healthcare.
According to his since-deleted profile on the Hartford Healthcare website, Magaldi attended medical school at St. George’s University School of Medicine and completed his residency, fellowship and internship at Yale University.
Magaldi was a member of several professional organizations including the American College of Rheumatology, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, the Connecticut State Medical Society.
“The news of the arrest and death of Dr. John Magaldi is deeply troubling,” Hartford Heathcare said in a statement sent to the Courant on Thursday. “We are ensuring all patients will continue to be cared for, and we are providing support for our colleagues.”
As part of the sting, Meriden police also charged William Suarez, 28, with criminal attempt at risk of injury, sexual contact with a victim under the age of 16, criminal attempted second-degree sexual assault and criminal attempt commercial sexual abuse of a minor. Francisco Carrero, 50, was also charged with criminal attempted at risk of injury, sexual contact with a victim under the age of 16, criminal attempted second-degree sexual assault, criminal attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor and possession of narcotics.
Suarez and Carrero’s bonds were set at $250,000, police said.
Carrero is scheduled to appear in court next in New Haven on April 3. Suarez is scheduled to appear next in New Haven on April 19, court records show.