BOSTON (WHDH) - A former nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital is accused of sexually assaulting two teenage boys that were in his care, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced Friday.
John Tam, 33, of Hopedale, was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on four counts of indecent assault and battery on a person fourteen years or older, and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a patient by a health care provider.
On September 19, 2022, a 15-year-old boy underwent surgery on his chest at the hospital. “He was administered anesthesia during the surgery, and awoke to find his nurse, later identified as John Tam, inappropriately touching his genitals,” Hayden said.
On January 2, 2025, Boston police responded to Boston Children’s Hospital for a report of a sexual assault. Hayden said the victim, who was a minor, had recently undergone surgery under anesthesia. During a post-surgery check, the boy’s nurse, identified as Tam, told the victim’s mother to get her car and drive to the entrance so the patient could be discharged.
“Tam dressed the victim, took him to the first floor, and brought him into a single-stall bathroom despite the victim not indicating he needed to use the restroom. Tam then sexually assaulted the victim for approximately eight minutes, including fondling his genitals and offering to pull up pornographic material on his phone to make the victim erect, before wheeling him outside to his mother’s vehicle,” Hayden said in a statement.
The victim’s mother said she immediately alerted hospital staff after she became aware of the situation.
Hayden said Boston police officers reviewed security footage and observed Tam wheeling the victim to a bathroom and exiting nine minutes later.
In a statement, Boston Children’s Hospital wrote, “At Boston Children’s Hospital, our patients’ and their families’ safety and well-being are our utmost priority, and we continue to cooperate with the investigation and prosecution.”
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is urging parents whose children may have encountered Tam at Boston Children’s Hospital or at his prior workplaces, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, UMass Memorial Medical Center Worcester campus, and UMass Memorial Medical Center Marlborough campus, to contact authorities if they have any suspicions that their children may have been assaulted.
Tam is scheduled to be arraigned on July 27 in Suffolk Superior Court.
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