Mentor accused of assaulting boy, 13
Big Brother had no prior record
He accompanied his Little Brother to arcades and to Burger King. He took him to a Vermont dairy farm where city children get a taste of rural life and learn to milk cows.
But after five years of establishing a friendship with his Little Brother, authorities said, Bryan Horgan sexually assaulted him.
The Suffolk District Attorney's office said the 41-year-old Dorchester man offered the 13-year-old lemonade spiked with vodka, tried to entice him to watch pornography, and improperly touched him.
Horgan was arraigned Wednesday on charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, assault with intent to rape a child under 16, and dissemination of matter harmful to minors.
Nancy Caplan, Horgan's court-appointed lawyer, said that he adamantly denied the charges and that he has consistently been a "positive and stable influence" in the life of the young man.
"No one should forget that he is presumed to be innocent," she said. "The person who is making these accusations is a young man with problems."
She said Horgan's siblings, who have children, were supporting him yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, where a judge reduced his bail from $100,000 to $20,000.
The allegations were especially troubling to officials at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay because Horgan and the boy had established a trusting relationship over five years. The program closely scrutinizes volunteers for signs they could become abusive, and its policy calls for a written application, a background check, three references, a face-to-face interview, and a written assessment of every volunteer.
But when abuse does occur, which is less than 10 times a year among the 200,000 pairs matched nationally, it typically begins much earlier in the relationship, said John Pearson, chief executive of the Boston program.
"We'll do a thorough review of everything we know about this," Pearson added. "This is a new beginning, and it's not a positive one."
Horgan apparently had no criminal record and caused no concern when he was matched with the boy in February 2002. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley lauded the victim for having the bravery to come forward and said he found it "particularly offensive" that the abuse allegedly came at the hands of his mentor.
The boy was the first Little Brother paired with Horgan, and did not report any abuse before Sunday, Pearson said.
"This match was viewed as very, very positive," Pearson said.
But investigators who executed a search warrant on Horgan's home found photographs of other young teenagers, and prosecutors say they intend to examine his personal computer for evidence.
Horgan's employer, the Boston Transportation Department, also gave police Horgan's work computer for analysis, said Transportation Commissioner Thomas J. Tinlin. Horgan was placed on indefinite, unpaid administrative leave during the investigation, Tinlin said.
Jake Wark, a spokesman for the district attorney, said Horgan brought the boy to his Adams Street home Sunday evening and, after watching television, began asking sexually explicit questions. Wark said Horgan offered the boy lemonade mixed with vodka, which the boy refused and Horgan drank. Then he showed the boy pornography, Wark said and sexually assaulted the boy before driving him home with an admonition not to tell anyone.
Prosecutors said the boy resisted Horgan's overtures and told his mother as soon as he got home. Boston police arrested Horgan Tuesday.
In Dorchester District Court, Horgan pleaded not guilty, and his bail was set at $100,000. But in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday, Judge Ralph D. Gants reduced his bail to $20,000, Caplan said. 