WINTHROP, MASS. (WHDH) - A Winthrop man was charged Thursday with sexually assaulting one of three boys he brought back from Colombia last summer after traveling to that country to adopt them, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
Kiyoshi Yu, 52, was charged in East Boston Municipal Court with one count of assault and battery on a child under 14. Judge John McDonald ordered Yu held on $2,500 bail and directed him to surrender his passport, have no contact with the three boys and have no contact with children under 16. Yu will return to court March 7 for a pre-trial hearing.
Assistant District Attorney John Blazo said Yu traveled to Bogota, Colombia last summer to adopt the boys, aged 8, 9, and 13. One of the boys told investigators that Yu repeatedly abused the boys in a Bogota hotel shortly after the adoption. The abuse continued when Yu returned with the boys to the United States.
In August, shortly after Yu arrived in the United States with the boys, Rhode Island police found the boys in a vehicle in a casino parking lot while Yu was in the casino. The boys also told investigators that Yu made them sleep on the floor, would not let them shower, and would make them wear the same clothes many days in a row.
“There are many disturbing aspects of this case, and it certainly is not representative of the massive majority of adoptive parents who strive to present safe, loving environments for their children. I thank the investigators for their sensitive work with these children, and certainly the children themselves for relaying the disturbing conduct of this individual,” Hayden said.
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