Transgender teen beaten during party in woods, MA cops say. Now, police seek charges
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the location of Gloucester in relation to Boston.
A court is to decide whether to charge three teenage boys accused of beating a transgender teenager at a party in the woods in Massachusetts, police said.
The teen, who was 16 when he was attacked at the Aug. 30 gathering in Gloucester, told Boston 25 News that he was beaten because he is transgender. Gloucester is located along the Massachusetts coast, about a 35-mile drive northeast from Boston.
The Gloucester Police Department is seeking assault and battery charges against a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys who they said beat the teenager to the point of him needing hospital treatment, authorities said in a Nov. 29 news release.
Jayden Tkaczyk, whose nose was broken during the beating, previously told The Associated Press that about a dozen teens “punched, kicked and stomped” him and hurled homophobic slurs at him.
“As I was getting hit, it was terrifying. I thought I was going to die, but I tried to keep a positive mindset,” Tkaczyk said at the time, according to The Associated Press.
After a months-long investigation, police said they found evidence to support the assault and battery charges and “filed applications for criminal complaints in Gloucester Juvenile Court.”
Despite accusations of the assault being a hate crime, authorities aren’t pursuing hate crime charges, according to police, who didn’t identify the three teens.
“Our department conducted a meticulous, thorough, and compassionate investigation, and the resulting charges are consistent with the evidence,” Gloucester Police Chief Edward Conley said in a statement.
A hate crime investigator and a Massachusetts state police detective, who specializes in hate crimes as part of state police’s Hate Crimes Awareness and Response Team, were involved in the investigation, the department said.
However, Tkaczyk’s mother, Nicole Tkaczyk, told WBZ that she felt the assault was a hate crime.
“Stomping on my son’s head while saying that slur is a hate crime,” Nicole Tkaczyk said while speaking with the outlet.
Under Massachusetts law, someone could be charged with a hate crime if they commit a crime motivated by “racial, religious, ethnic, handicap, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation prejudice.”
The three teens accused of beating Tkaczyk will appear in court before a clerk magistrate, who will decide whether the assault and battery charges are warranted, according to police.
“Our thoughts remain with the victim, who suffered significant injuries in this attack,” Conley said.
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Transgender teen beaten during party in woods, MA cops say. Now, police seek charges."
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