WINTHROP, MASS. (WHDH) - A man appeared in court Thursday in connection with a series of indecent assaults involving several women and a child in downtown Winthrop, officials said.
Kervens Boutin, 26, of Stoughton, was arraigned in East Boston District Court to face multiple criminal charges, including two counts of indecent assault. Allowed by the judge to hide behind a courtroom wall, Boutin pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Wednesday, Winthrop police said a woman and her child came into the Police Department shortly after 4 p.m. and reported that a man tried to pull down her pants while making a sexually explicit comment on Winthrop Street.
Officers were able to quickly locate a man fitting the description the victim gave, but he ran from them. Following a short foot chase, the man, later identified as Boutin, was found along Governor’s Drive, police said. Officers used a stun gun after Boutin resisted arrest.
Three officers suffered minor injuries during the arrest operation, and one officer was taken to the hospital. Boutin was also taken to the hospital.
Following the arrest, investigators said several other victims came forward to report additional incidents. A report by two other woman said that they encountered a man matching Boutin’s description sitting on a couch inside their apartment with his pants unbuckled. They said the man tried to call one of them over to speak with her. That incident, which investigators said occurred before the Winthrop Street assault, prompted the victims to leave and seek help from building maintenance who removed the man from the premises.
“He was sitting on a couch with a blanket on his lap. After he was asked to leave he said, ‘no, I’m good here,” said Therese Brower, the prosecutor.
Another woman reported that a man fitting Boutin’s description ran past her and slapped her buttocks while she was waiting for a bus. Prosecutors said he also attempted to touch a nine-year-old girl.
A court psychologist who evaluated Boutin prior to his arraignment said she has questions about his competency.
“Based upon my observations as well as the reported history provided, in my opinion, he is demonstrating symptoms consistent with psychosis,” said Dr. Kerri Kane.
Prosecutors requested Boutin be held on $15,000 bail, which left friends of one of the victims outraged leaving the courthouse.
“He got hit with a $15,000 bail for assault and battery on a child. On a nine-year-old child. That seem fair to anybody else here? I don’t know,” a man who knows one of the victims said.
The judge ultimately ordered Boutin held without bail and ordered him to undergo a 20-day psychiatric evaluation. He is due back in court in November.
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