A child predator living in Hooksett was arrested Aug. 20 for failing to register as a sex offender after police found dead and dying pets in his filthy trailer park home. He was released from prison Wednesday, Aug. 26, after a Hooksett District Court judge lowered his bail.

Police arrested Eric Bousquet, 49, of 102 Howard Ave., on Aug. 20 for failing to register as a sex offender after getting word that he hadn’t been home for five weeks, authorities said. He was also charged with animal cruelty on Sept. 2.

When police went to his home that day in an attempt to locate him, officers found an extremely messy house inhabited by dead and dying pets, police said.

Hooksett Detective Janet Bouchard, one of the responding officers, said Bousquet is now under investigation for molesting four children who have come forward in recent weeks. However, Bousquet has only been charged with failing to register his place of residence to police.

“The animal cruelty charges are definitely coming,” Bouchard said Aug. 25. “The sexual assault case is just beginning.”

At Bousquet’s court arraignment Aug. 27, a police prosecutor requested Bousquet’s bail remain at $10,000 cash, but Judge Gerald Boyle reduced that to $10,000 surety, which Bousquet posted that day, according to The Union Leader.

Bousquet was convicted in 1992 of felonious sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in Pembroke. Hooksett police say he’s been convicted of failing to register as a sex offender three times since 2001 and two cases, including the new one just mentioned, are pending.

When attempting to locate Bousquet on Aug. 20, Detective Bouchard said she and other responding officers found an extremely cluttered and filthy home. As police combed the house, they discovered a dead cat and a dog on the brink of death, Bouchard said. The dog had to be euthanized after maggots were found eating away at it, she said.

The home was in a similar condition on Aug. 25, inside the Park Place Mobile Home Park off Route 3.

Dawn Cormier lives in the same mobile home park as Bousquet. She took in Bousquet’s remaining live cat and three very small kittens. She said Bousquet’s dog was a poodle named Trigger.

“It’s a shame,” she said. “That dog followed him everywhere.”

She said Bousquet had at least five adult animals and six kittens. She believes three kittens have died, but police could not discover them due to extensive decomposition.

Another neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said Bousquet had not been living in the home for at least three weeks, possibly longer. Police say he was required to notify them if he moved or even stayed at another residence for a couple of days.