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ASHLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, November 27, 2003: An Ashland teenager is free on bail Wednesday evening after he was arraigned for allegedly defacing a Hindu temple. NewsCenter 5’s Amalia Barreda reported that Anthony Piccioli was arrested after the state police crime lab linked him to spray-painted epithets on temple property. Piccioli’s father denied the civil rights charges against his son as the pair exited the Framingham District Court Wednesday morning. “Innocent until proven guilty,” said the teenager’s father as they exited the courthouse. The teenager was arraigned as an adult on charges of malicious destruction of property, destruction or threats to destroy a place of worship after the teenager allegedly vandalized the Sri Lakshmi Hindu Temple in Ashland with spray paint. Along the temple’s driveway, a rock that had been scrubbed still has a faded racial epithet and the word “beware.” Officials also allege that Piccioli spray painted a pentagon on the temple parking lot and a Confederate flag on the side of a storage trailer on the property. “Subsequent investigation resulted in officers going to a house on Roberts Road a very short distance away. There was paint also at the residence on Roberts Road. A search warrant was obtained at the Framingham District Court and we executed the search warrant. Those results were sent to the state police lab and they were found to be consistent with the paint located at the temple,” said Ashland police Sgt. Roy Testa. The defendant yelled obscenities at NewsCenter 5 from his house on Roberts Road, where police seized paint and other evidence. A separate investigation is looking into whether Piccioli painted a swastika on a nearby vacant house on Kathryn Drive. In the meantime, the temple’s secretary said his community is one of forgive and forget. And his advice to all is tolerance. “It is better to have some understanding before you commit something. And also make sure you don’t do mistakes that will affect your future in life. It’s not worth taking risks and than ruining your own life and future,” said temple secretary Rao Dhullipalla. Piccioli was ordered to stay away from the temple and return to court on January 6.

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