Man Charged with Hate Crime in Belt Attack on 12-Year-Old
Police say the man shouted anti-gay slurs before allegedly whipping the boy with a belt near a Manhattan playground.
A man has been arrested for allegedly whipping a 12-year-old boy with a belt while hurling anti-gay slurs at him.
Kevin Maxwell, 37, is accused of assaulting the 12-year-old near a playground at the New York City Housing Authority’s Baruch Houses on Manhattan’s Lower East Side around 12:45 a.m. on April 29.
Police allege that Maxwell, a resident of Brooklyn’s Canarsie neighborhood, approached the boy, shouted anti-LGBTQ slurs at him, and then struck him with a belt. Authorities have not said what prompted the alleged attack.
“Are you stupid or something? You gay f*****. Shut the fuck up,” Maxwell allegedly told the boy, according to New York City CW affiliate WPIX.
Prosecutors say Maxwell and the boy did not know each other before the alleged assault.
The 12-year-old suffered minor injuries. Maxwell fled the scene and remained at large for more than two months.
Last month, the New York Police Department released a sketch of the suspect, described as having a beard and wearing a hooded sweatshirt, and asked the public for help identifying him.
Maxwell was charged with one count of hate crime assault with a weapon, one count of assault with intent to cause physical injury, one count of acting in a manner injurious to a child, and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. Prosecutors also noted that he has a prior weapons conviction.
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