QUINCY, MASS. (WHDH) - A 20-year-old man was arraigned Tuesday in connection with a series of incidents in Quincy involving teenagers who said they were approached by a strange man and offered sex for money.
Benjamin Chen, of Quincy, turned himself over to police on Monday before being arraigned in Quincy District Court on charges including enticing a minor, accosting a person of the opposite sex, and soliciting sex for a fee, according to the Quincy Police Department.
Police say Chen turned himself in after seeing news reports detailing the search for a suspect.
A judge ordered Chen to stay away from the victims, all girls under the age of 18, K-12 schools, public parks, and the Quincy YMCA. He will also be required to wear a GPS monitoring device.
His arrest comes after a woman, who asked 7NEWS to identify her as Tina, says a man drove up to her 13-year-old daughter near a park in the Germantown neighborhood on Jan. 4 while she was with two friends, and offered her money for sex, starting at $50 and going up to $500.
The man allegedly got out of his car and ran after the girls after they said no.
Just a few days after this terrifying encounter, Tina claims it happened again in the same area.
After learning that Chen turned himself in, she told 7NEWS she was “very happy.”
“I feel a little bit safer for these kids,” she said. “My daughter’s just fearful. She’s been fearful, so this will be a big relief.”
Along with these two reported incidents in the Germantown neighborhood, another incident was reported near the YMCA.
There were no reported injuries.
Chen has since been released on $1,000 bail.
He is due back in court at a later date.
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