BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – GREG BOYDEN, the man charged yesterday (Oct. 18) for allegedly indecently assaulting a little boy, had also faced a series of charges in the USA for similar offences.
In an article published on Friday, October 9, 2015 by the New York Daily News, headlined “Man accused of groping 3 boys in the Bronx nabbed by cops”, 37-year-old Greg Boyden of Grace Avenue in Wakefield, allegedly preyed on the boys in Seton Falls Park in Edenwald between August and October 2015.
Described as a "serial groper", the media outlet said he was cuffed and taken into custody after an investigation by the Bronx Child Special Victims Unit charged him with forcible touching, public lewdness, unlawful imprisonment and sex abuse.
His victims, the media house said, were aged 12, 13 and 15, and in two attacks he had offered to pay the boys to carry his bags before groping them. And in the third, he suggestively tugged on his own waistband after dragging a boy into the woods, according to a police report.
He was also charged for a fourth incident, where he sent a picture of his genitals to a 13-year-old boy.
These incidents were also reported on the said day by CBSNewYork, which stated: “There was anger but also relief among parents steps away from an elementary school outside of Seton Falls Park on Friday” after learning that Boyden was arrested on the previous day.
This particular media house said: “The latest incident happened Oct. 3. Police said he walked up to a 12-year-old boy inside the park and grabbed him by the arm. He then pulled the boy into a wooded area and then reached for his own waistband, police said. That’s when the child supposedly punched him in the face to defend himself and ran off.”
It also noted that none of the boys were hurt and that police said they caught Boyden at his Bronx home after their investigation connected him to a lewd photo of himself sent to a 13-year-old boy on August 1 and then he called the victim and offered him money for sex.
Investigators were able to trace the number back to Boyden.
CBSNewYork quoted a parent, Julius Span, as saying: “When you start messing around with little kids and have no protection from a grown up, I would say basically put him away.”
Boyden had appeared in a New York court to face the slew of charges but this publication was unable to gain information on the verdict.
SKNVibes had learnt that Boyden was apprehended on Fort Street by members of the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force on Saturday (Oct. 15) and handed over to the police, where it was said that they had a person of interest in custody assisting with investigation into a report of a man who had tried to lure a schoolboy into an isolated area in Ponds Site.
Speaking with WINN FM, Head of the Criminal Investigations Department Superintendent Diane Mills had confirmed the apprehension and urged parents of children who might have had similar experiences to come forward and make a report to the police.
When told that there were two such incidents in recent days, Superintendent Mills indicated to the media house that only one formal report was made to the police.
According to reports, the incident occurred sometime last week in the vicinity of the Seventh Day Adventist Primary School, where a man who was carrying some heavy bags had asked the schoolboy to assist him and in the process allegedly attempted to lure him into an isolated area.
Following an investigation by SKNVibes, it was learnt that a similar incident took place during the summer in the vicinity of the George Moody Primary School.
It was learnt that a schoolboy was walking in the Taylor’s Range area when he was approached by a man who requested that he assist him in carrying some laden shopping bags.
SKNVibes was told that after the boy assumed that the man was struggling with the bags, he decided to help him. However, the boy observed that the man was leading him in the direction of an abandoned building next to the George Moody Primary School.
“The little boy immediately dropped the bags and ran all the way to his Taylor’s home and told his father what occurred. The father went in search of the man, who they believed to be from Africa due to his accent, but he was nowhere in sight,” a source imparted to this media house.
The source claimed that a few days after the incident, the boy was with his father who was driving in the Taylor’s area when the said man was seen.
“While the boy was with his father driving in Taylor’s, he saw the man walking and he pointed him out to his father. After realising that the little boy had recognised him, the man used his hands to cover his face, and when he saw the boy’s father approaching him he ran away,” the source said.
When asked if the matter was reported to the police, the source claimed to be unaware but suggested that the person in custody might be the same man.
SKNVibes learned that the 38-year-old Greg Boyden is a national of Jamaica.
