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Boston man allegedly exposed himself to teen girl at historic burial ground
Crime
In setting Wayne MacDonald’s bail, the court noted his “long history of similar offenses,” records show.
A Boston man was held without bail this week after he was accused of exposing himself to an underage girl who was visiting the city’s historic Granary Burying Ground with her family last July.
Wayne MacDonald, 65, was charged in Boston Municipal Court Wednesday with one count of open and gross lewdness, subsequent offense, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said. MacDonald has pleaded not guilty.
The teen and her mother told police they were visiting the Granary Burying Ground shortly before 1 p.m. on July 25 when a man exposed himself to the girl, the DA’s office said. The mother confronted the man across the street from the cemetery, but he allegedly denied any wrongdoing and walked away.
The mother provided officers a description of the man, and Boston police tracked down video surveillance footage from nearby buildings and found him on tape, according to the DA’s office. Detectives circulated a bulletin, and officers in the Boston Police Sexual Offender Registry Unit allegedly identified the man as MacDonald.
He was arrested earlier this week, the DA’s office said.
In setting MacDonald’s bail, the court noted his “long history of similar offenses,” records show. According to the DA’s office, MacDonald is on probation until 2029 after serving a jail sentence for a 2023 open and gross lewdness conviction. He also has “numerous” similar charges on his record stretching back to 1992, the office said.
Judge Joseph Griffin set MacDonald’s bail at $500 for the new charge and ordered him held without bail pending a Dec. 5 probation violation hearing, the DA’s office said. Boston.com has reached out to MacDonald’s lawyer for comment.
“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,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “That information, combined with solid detective work, helped bring this defendant forward to answer to the charges.”
Built in 1660, the Granary Burying Ground is the final resting place of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, the five Boston Massacre victims, and several other notable figures from Boston’s earliest history.
