A Boston man allegedly exposed himself to a teenager at a historic burial site

Criminality

In setting Wayne MacDonald’s bail, the court took into account his “long history of similar offenses,” records show.

This week, a Boston man was held without bail after being accused of exposing himself to an underage girl visiting the city’s historic district. Burial place in the Granary with his family last July.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Wayne MacDonald, 65, was charged Wednesday in Boston Municipal Court with open and gross lewdness, a further offense. MacDonald pleaded not guilty.

The teenager and her mother told police they were visiting the Granary Burying Ground shortly before 1 p.m. on July 25 when the man exposed himself to the girl, the district attorney’s office said. The mother met the man across the street, near the cemetery, but he denied any wrongdoing and left.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the mother gave officers a description of the man, and Boston police found video surveillance footage from nearby buildings and found him on tape. Detectives sent out a bulletin, and officers with the Boston Police Department’s Sex Offender Registry Division allegedly identified the man as MacDonald.

According to the prosecutor’s office, he was arrested earlier this week.

Records show that in setting MacDonald’s bail, the court took into account his “long history of similar offenses.” According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, MacDonald is on probation until 2029 after serving prison time for an open gross lewdness conviction from 2023. The office said he also has “numerous” similar charges on his record, dating back to 1992.

Judge Joseph Griffin set MacDonald’s bail at $500 on the new charge and ordered him held without bail pending a Dec. 5 hearing on a probation violation, the district attorney’s office said. Boston.com has reached out to MacDonald’s attorney for comment.

“It is unfortunate that any young person would have to experience something like this, but I commend her and her mother for acting so responsibly by providing police with a description of the incident and who was responsible,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “This information, combined with solid detective work, helped prompt the defendant to respond to the allegations.”

Built in 1660, the Granary Burying Ground is the resting place of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, five victims of the Boston Massacre and several other notable figures from Boston’s earliest history.

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Abby Patkin is a general news reporter whose work covers public transportation, crime, health and everything in between.

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