Man Wearing Ankle Bracelet for Assault Conviction Charged with Lewd Acts

BOSTON, Aug. 23, 2012 – A man already wearing an ankle bracelet for an indecent assault conviction was arraigned yesterday for allegedly masturbating in a downtown coffee shop, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

TYLER H. GRACE (D.O.B. 3/19/82) of Quincy was formally charged with open and gross lewdness yesterday in Boston Municipal Court. Prosecutors requested $5,000 bail, which was imposed by Judge Michael J. Coyne. Coyne also ordered Grace held pending a hearing to determine whether he violated the terms of a probationary sentence following his incarceration on a Norfolk County indecent assault and battery conviction.

At about 2:20 on Tuesday afternoon, a 25-year-old Allston woman at the Starbucks on School Street told Boston Police that she noticed Grace fidgeting after he sat in a chair near her in the coffee shop.

Grace allegedly smiled at the woman, opened his jacket, and looked downward. The woman looked under the table to see Grace allegedly masturbating. He left the coffee shop after the victim went to speak to a manager.

When approached by police in front of a nearby restaurant on School Street, Grace allegedly made statements that the woman sat near him and suddenly became disgusted with him, prompting him to leave.

Police arrested Grace and performed a pat down, during which they discovered he was wearing a GPS bracelet on his left ankle; that device was a condition of his probation on the earlier conviction.

Grace will return to court on Sept. 20. He was represented by Sara Kennedy.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.