Mississippi Man Charged with Sexual Abuse of Minor on Cruise Ship

BOSTON – A Mississippi man was charged today in federal court in Boston for sexually assaulting a minor during a cruise from Boston to Bermuda.

Adam Christopher Boyd, 30, of Bay Springs, Miss., was charged with one count of sexual abuse of a minor. He is currently in Bermuda, awaiting extradition to the United States.  

According to court documents, Boyd was a passenger on a seven-day cruise from Boston to Bermuda.  While the ship was docked in Bermuda, Boyd allegedly raped a minor passenger while the two were onboard the ship.  The child subsequently reported the rape to ship security, who notified Bermudian authorities.  In the course of the Bermuda Police Service’s initial investigation, they arrested Boyd and notified authorities in the United States.   

Sexual abuse of a minor carries a sentence of no greater than 15 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office, made the announcement today.  Valuable assistance was also provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bermuda Police Service, Massachusetts Port Authority and FBI Legat Bridgetown, Barbados, Sub Office Nassau. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Weinreb’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and a member of the Major Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.  In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse.  Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.