MBTA Transit Police are asking the public to help identify a man connected to an alleged indecent assault and battery near the escalator at Maverick Station in East Boston. Officers released images of the man Tuesday, more than two weeks after the alleged incident happened on October 4 at around 4:20 p.m. at the station entrance.
Boston 25 News reported that MBTA Transit Police asked the public for help identifying the man. The report says Transit Police shared images of him in connection with the incident; the embedded appeal places the incident near the Maverick Station escalator. Anyone with information has been asked to contact the Transit Police Criminal Investigation Unit at 617-222-1050, and people who come forward are allowed to remain anonymous, per the same account.
Transit police maintain several ways for riders to report tips beyond that phone line, including 24-hour emergency dispatch, a text tip service, and the MBTA's See Say mobile app, which lets riders discreetly send real-time tips and photos to dispatchers, with a camera flash suppression feature built in to protect tipsters' safety.
A Station With a History of Enforcement Actions
Maverick Station has been the site of other sexual misconduct investigations in recent years. In March 2025, Transit Police arrested a man at the station after he allegedly indecently assaulted a woman inside, according to Universal Hub. In November 2024, a Boston man faced felony civil rights and assault charges after he allegedly attacked a transgender woman and fractured her wrist aboard a Blue Line train at the station, with prosecutors stating the victim was targeted with slurs beforehand, Universal Hub reported.
The pattern stretches back further. In March 2020, Transit Police arrested an East Boston man at Maverick Station after investigating reports that he repeatedly exposed himself and committed lewd acts toward female passengers on Blue and Green line trains, according to WHDH. Investigators at the time linked the suspect to multiple incidents across different transit routes.
Why Maverick Station Sees Such Heavy Foot Traffic
The East Boston Tunnel opened in 1904 and is the oldest underwater rapid transit tunnel in North America and East Boston's primary subway connection to downtown Boston, according to Boston Harbor Now. The station handles thousands of daily commuter trips, and platform density during peak hours depends heavily on functioning elevators and escalators.
What a Conviction Could Mean Under State Law
Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265, Section 13H, indecent assault and battery on a person aged 14 or older is a felony punishable by up to five years in state prison or up to two and a half years in a house of correction. The statute, as outlined by Justia Law, sets out these penalties. No charges have been filed in this case, and the man pictured by Transit Police has not been named a suspect in any formal complaint.
Broader Transit Safety Picture Improving Overall
The appeal comes even as system-wide crime across the MBTA has been trending downward. Major crime across the transit system dropped roughly 13 percent in 2025, falling to 712 recorded major incidents from 823 in 2024, driven largely by reductions in robberies and larcenies, Transit Police statistics published in March 2026 show. Still, larceny remains the most frequently reported crime across MBTA stations and vehicles, and individual incidents of sexual misconduct in high-volume transfer points like Maverick Station continue to draw public appeals for witness identification.
Massachusetts lawmakers have also moved recently to toughen penalties tied to transit safety more broadly. In March 2026, the state enacted House Bill H.4645, elevating physical assaults, spitting, or threats against public transit workers to felony status punishable by up to 2.5 years in prison, following more than 600 reported transit employee assaults in 2024. MBTA Transit Police, established in 1968 under Chapter 161A of Massachusetts General Laws, operate as a civil service law enforcement agency with jurisdiction across 177 municipalities in eastern Massachusetts and an authorized force of around 266 sworn officers.
No arrests have been announced in the Maverick Station case, and this remains a developing investigation. Updates may follow as Transit Police continue seeking the public's help identifying the man.
