Boston man held on charges he exposed himself to teen girl at historic burial ground
BOSTON, November 1, 2024 – A Boston man has been ordered held without bail after being arraigned this week on charges that he exposed himself in July to an underage girl accompanying her family during a visit to the historic Granary Burial Ground on Tremont Street, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
WAYNE MACDONALD, 65, was charged Wednesday in Boston Municipal Court Central Division with one count of open and gross lewdness, subsequent offense. Judge Joseph Griffin set bail at $500 on the new charge and ordered MacDonald held without bail until a probation violation hearing scheduled for December 5.
MacDonald in on probation until 2029 after serving a House of Correction sentence stemming from a 2023 conviction for open and gross lewdness. MacDonald has numerous similar charges on his record dating back to 1992.
At about 12:50 p.m on July 25, a mother and her teenage daughter told Boston police they were visiting Granary Burial Ground when a man exposed himself to the daughter. The daughter told her mother, who confronted the man across the street from the cemetery. The man denied any wrongdoing and walked away. The mother described the man as 55-plus, about 5’ 10”, wearing dark glasses, a blue shirt and a hat with “Boston” on the front, and carrying a green backpack.
Boston Police detectives secured video surveillance footage from area buildings and isolated images of the man and of the mother confronting him. Detectives sent a bulletin and officers in the Boston Police Sexual Offender Registry Unit identified the man as MacDonald. Detectives then sought an arrest warrant and MacDonald was taken into custody this week.
“It’s unfortunate for any young person to have an experience like this, but I praise her and her mother for acting so responsibly in providing police with a description of the incident and the person responsible. That information, combined with solid detective work, helped bring this defendant forward to answer to the charges,” 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 877-521-2601. It also has the capacity to provide multilingual translation in more than 140 languages. RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country, can be reached at 800-656-4673.
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