Melrose man charged with indecent assault and battery in Monday Jamaica Plain incident
BOSTON, July 18, 2023 – A 31-year-old Melrose man was ordered held on $1,000 bail today after being charged in Roxbury BMC with indecent assault and battery stemming from an incident outside a Jamaica Plain restaurant Monday, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
FRANCIS MWAURA was charged with one count of indecent assault and battery. In addition to $1,000 bail, Judge Debra DelVecchio ordered Mwaura to stay away from the victim and to stay away from Jackson Square, where the incident occurred. Mwaura will return to court August 24 for a pre-trial hearing.
On Monday, July 17 at about 8:52 p.m. Boston police responded to an area near the Jackson Square MBTA bus terminal in Jamaica Plain and talked to a teenage female who appeared to be distraught. The girl told police she had been sitting outside a Centre Street restaurant when a man, unknown to her, sat beside her and asked “is the food good here?” The girl told police she felt uncomfortable and moved away from the man, while telling him that she was a minor and not to touch her. The girl said the man, later identified as Mwaura, then inserted his hand between her legs.
Police talked to a witness who walked by the victim and the man, and moments later heard the victim scream “he touched me.” Working on a description provided by the victim and witnesses, police located Mwaura in the restaurant and arrested him.
The victim was transported to Children’s Hospital for further evaluation.
“I commend this young girl for alerting people around her to what happened and for providing a description of her attacker to police. Everyone has the right and the expectation to go out on a pleasant summer evening in perfect safety,” Hayden said.
The victims of any crime, including domestic or sexual violence, should call 911 in an emergency. SafeLink, a statewide DV hotline, can be reached at 877-785-2020. SafeLink is answered by trained advocates 24/7 in English, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as TTY at 870-521-2601. It also has the capacity to provide multilingual translation in more than 140 languages. Help is also available at www.janedoe.org/findhelp.
Help is also available for members of our LGBTQ+ community experiencing domestic or intimate partner violence through The Network/La Red by calling 617-742-4911 or 800-832-1901.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications