Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, Massachusetts State Police Colonel Marian McGovern, and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis today reminded area residents and incoming students to exercise caution on the Charles River Esplanade, particularly at night, in light of a series of unsolved sexual assaults in that area.
Authorities recommended that joggers, cyclists, pedestrians, and others travel in groups if they visit the Esplanade at night. More specifically, they recommended that people in the area remain alert and aware of their surroundings, avoid one-on-one contact with strangers in the area, seek help if a stranger tries to isolate them, and not accept rides from strangers.
“Each late summer brings to Boston and Cambridge a new crop of students unaware of these attacks,” Conley said. “As we educate them on basic safety and how to approach the Esplanade at night, we’re also reminding long-term residents that this attacker remains at large and could still be active in the area.”
“Our citizens should be assured that we bring to bear on this investigation the full resources of three law enforcement agencies, from patrol units and detectives to criminalists and prosecutors, and the person who did these crimes should likewise be assured that we won’t stop until we take him off the street,” Colonel McGovern, superintendent of the State Police, said. “At the same time, we urge people out in public to be aware and minimize their risks.”
The unsolved attacks include:
1. A July 14, 2009, incident in which a young woman was physically attacked near the Massachusetts Avenue footbridge shortly after midnight;
2. A July 29, 2007, incident in which a 20-year-old woman was abducted at knifepoint on Beacon Street and forced to walk to the Esplanade, where she was raped and robbed at about 3:30 a.m.;
3. A June 16, 2007, incident in which a different 20-year-old woman was jogging at the Charles River Esplanade on a footpath near the Massachusetts Avenue bridge shortly after 11:00 p.m. when she was raped; and
4. A July 29, 2006, incident in which a 30-year-old woman was in the area of Joe Moakley Park when she was raped at about 3:00 a.m.
The victims collectively described their assailants as being a clean-shaven African-American male in his mid-20s to mid-30s, standing 5’8” to 5’10”. At the time of the attacks, he had a medium to large build and a bald head.
Anyone with knowledge of the crimes or the suspect, or who was present near the Esplanade, Dartmouth Street, or Moakley Park areas at the times noted above, is urged to contact the Massachusetts State Police Barracks in Boston at 617-727-6780, call the toll-free Boston Police CrimeStoppers tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or text the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).
