BOSTON, Nov. 17, 2016—Three juveniles have been arraigned on hate crime charges after they allegedly harassed and assaulted a woman they believed to be an immigrant on an MBTA train last week, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

A 15-year-old female from Mattapan and 15-year-old female from Dorchester were arraigned in the juvenile division of Dorchester Municipal Court on Nov. 9 in connection with the assault two days earlier, while a 15-year-old female from Dorchester was arraigned Monday.  All three are charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and civil rights violation causing injury.  All three juveniles were released to their parents’ custody with orders to stay away from one another, the victim, and witnesses in the case.

Prosecutors also obtained orders protecting the victim’s name and personal information from the juveniles.

According to prosecutors, the 49-year-old victim boarded a Red Line train at Savin Hill Station at approximately 7:40 a.m. on Nov. 7.  The defendants were also on board the train and began to verbally harass her, mocking the woman’s accent and English proficiency, and telling her to “go back to [her] own country,” prosecutors said.  When the woman attempted to leave her seat, the group allegedly blocked her to prevent her from moving. One of them, prosecutors said, repeatedly punched and struck her in the face with a cell phone.

A witness pressed the train’s emergency call button to report the assault at Andrew Station.  MBTA Transit Police responded to the scene and spoke to witnesses who corroborated the distraught victim’s account. One witness described the group as “celebrating” once they left the train. Transit Police detectives obtained a photo snapped by one of the witnesses, which Transit Police detectives showed to Boston Public School officials, leading to the juveniles’ identification.

“The immigrant experience is encoded in our nation’s DNA,” said Conley, who hailed the witnesses who hit the emergency button to notify authorities, the transit Police detectives who investigated the case, and others who assisted. “We want to make sure that everyone feels safe and secure, no matter who they are, where they’re from, how they speak, or how they define their families.  There’s no room for behavior like this – period.”

All three defendants are due back in court Nov. 30.

–30–

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