Police Seek Suspect in Day-Care Incident

Patrols increased after report of unauthorized contact

Police from the Boston, Brookline, and Boston University police departments are searching for a white male who reportedly approached and spoke to a child attending day care at the Boston University’s Children’s Center on Agganis Way late Tuesday afternoon. The suspect reportedly stopped by the bicycle area of the Children’s Center, which is adjacent to BUPD headquarters, and spoke to a young child in the center’s care. He left the area when a day-care staffer approached him.

Scott Pare, deputy director of public safety for the University, says the BU Police and other departments were doing everything they could do to locate the suspect. “We have a description,” says Pare. “We hope to identify him and ask some questions and find out exactly what he said.”

The suspect, believed to be in his 30s, was reportedly dressed in khaki shorts, a gray T-shirt, and a white baseball cap worn backwards. Pare says the BU Police Department had stepped up patrols in the area, and Brookline and Boston police plan to follow suit. In addition to alerting neighboring police departments, the BUPD reported the incident to other day-care centers in the vicinity.

Children’s Center director Nikki Sibley reported the incident to the BU Police and sent an e-mail to the parents of all children at the center assuring them that no child was in danger at any time. “The safety and well-being of your children is our first priority,” Sibley says.

The University asks anyone with information about the incident to call the BU Police at 617-353-2110.

Art Jahnke can be reached at jahnke@bu.edu.

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Police Seek Suspect in Day-Care Incident

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  • Art Jahnke

    Senior Contributing Editor

    Art Janke

    Art Jahnke began his career at the Real Paper, a Boston area alternative weekly. He has worked as a writer and editor at Boston Magazine, web editorial director at CXO Media, and executive editor in Marketing & Communications at Boston University, where his work was honored with many awards. Profile

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There are 9 comments on Police Seek Suspect in Day-Care Incident

  2. I understand that strangers being near young kids might be a problem…

    But what’s the use of trying to hunt down this guy when he didn’t do anything? I’m sure it’s easy to understand what was going on from the guy’s point of view:

    He probably thought the child was cute and talked with the kid. It’s a natural response. For instance, people stop to pet cute dogs, or even make small talk simply because the dog is cute. However, when the guy saw the Staff member approaching, he thought that it would have been better to leave instead of being questioned suspiciously. (since he obviously didn’t do anything).

    Plus, it was next to the damn BUPD office. If I’m going to do something questionable, I’d at least do it far away from the police as possible.

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  3. Oh man, you HAVE to be kidding me. It is only an “incident” because we’re so upset and heated up in this culture that we can’t accept that maybe adult men are human and like to talk to cute kids just like adult women do.

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  4. This story reminds me of the father that was arrested for walking down the street while holding his child’s hand.

    Sensationalism much, BU Today?

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  5. Are you serious? Obviously you don’t have children of your own! A man in his thirties lurking around a daycare for 2-6 year olds in an area there is no other reason to be in?! On top of that stating he was there to pick up a child! Yeah, it is a big deal…

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  7. I take offense to both comments listed above. When an individual approaches a child that the child does not know and begins asking about how he goes about picking that child up, the staff must air on the side of caution, keep the child safe and follow the appropriate protocol. When you work with children, that is your absolute top priority! I have a feeling if it was your child who was involved in this incident, you might feel differently about this situation.

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  9. for clarification, the man did in fact indicate that he intended to pick up the child who many of you claim he “innocently spoke to because the child was cute.” this was not an innocent encounter and the man fled when the staff worker indicated that he had to enter the center before picking up a child…
    not an innocent or harmless situation

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