By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

A man accused of sexually abusing two children in Brandon Township will answer to the charges more than seven years after the allegations were first made.

Floyd Arthur Boyce, 53, was arraigned March 8 on three counts of criminal sexual conduct first degree on a person under the age of 13. The felony charges are punishable by up to life in prison.

According to an Oakland County Sheriff’s Office report on the cold case investigation, on March 1, 2010, a Brandon deputy responded to an address in the 3600 block of Hawthorne after a mother reported her 10-year-old daughter had disclosed incidents of sexual abuse by Boyce, her uncle. The child was then interviewed at CARE House, an advocacy center in Pontiac for children who have been abused.

The child told of repeated acts of sexual abuse by Boyce against her starting when she was in kindergarten and continuing until he went to prison in 2008. Following her disclosure, a Michigan State Police detective/sergeant interviewed Boyce at Marquette Prison, where he was serving time for assault and property crimes. He denied sexually abusing his niece. The case remained open, but unresolved.

In 2015, according to the cold case investigation report, the victim’s 14-year-old brother, while hospitalized for behavioral issues, also disclosed incident of inappropriate touching by Boyce prior to 2008, but refused to provide specific details until 2016 when he was in therapy. The boy was subsequently interviewed at CARE House in September 2016 and said his uncle had repeatedly sexually abused him beginning when he was 6-years-old.

With the new information, OCSO detectives from the Brandon substation interviewed Boyce at the Mid-Michigan Correctional Facility, where he was still in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections, but he again denied the allegations now made by both his niece and nephew and provided the same information he gave the MSP investigator in 2010.

In December 2016, Brandon detectives concluded the investigation into allegations from both the niece and nephew and forwarded the case to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, which authorized a three count warrant against Boyce. The OCSO took custody of Boyce from MDOC and he remains lodged at the Oakland County Jail on a $500,000 cash/surety bond, no 10 percent provision.

OCSO Lt. Greg Glover, Brandon substation commander, said “the long arm of the law” finally caught up to Boyce as these cases, with no statute of limitations, do not go away.

“Sometimes with children, the older they get, the more forthcoming they become through counseling and maturity,” said Glover. “In any sex crime case, it’s never too late to come forward if you have been molested by a total stranger or a family member. It’s important to come forward— if something isn’t done, it allows the responsible to victimize other people. In my opinion, if he was not in prison, he would have continually victimized other people until he was caught.”

Statistics from the Michigan Chapter of the National Children’s Alliance and Darkness to Light provided by CARE House report that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18; one in five children are sexually solicited while on the internet; the median age for reported abuse is 9-years-old; more than 20 percent of children are abused before the age of 8; over 30 percent of children who have been sexually abused never report the abuse to anyone; and sexually abused children who keep it a secret or who “tell” and are not believed are at greater risk than the general population for psychological, emotional, social, and physical problems.

Boyce is the second man to have charges of child sexual abuse brought against him by Brandon detectives in less than three months. In January, Gary Tremayne Hollins was arraigned on six counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct on a person under the age of 13 from assaults that were brought to the attention of the OCSO in 2009. He fled the state at that time, but was extradited back to Michigan to face the charges after Glover learned he was in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections and traveled to that state to interview him, subsequently presenting the case to OCPO.

Genesee County Sheriff’s Office detectives have also been working to bring justice for the victims of Terry Cadarette, a Goodrich businessman and resident who was arrested on July 18, 2016 after he allegedly used the social media app Grindr to attract a 14-year-old boy into his home for sex. He was originally charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct; one count of using computers/internet to communicate with another to commit a crime; and one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes. Cadarette was released on bond. On March 29, he was back before Judge David J. Goggins in 67th District Court for an examination that resulted in additional charges after two more victims were named from images obtained in the Genesee County Sheriff Department investigation that depicted underage youth engaged in sexual activity.

The additional charges now include four counts of using computers/internet to communicate with another to commit a crime; three counts of criminal sexual conduct third degree; one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes and five counts child sexual abuse activity.

In many cases of child sexual abuse, Glover said predators will “groom” kids who are scared and don’t know how to express what has happened to them. They are often threatened by their abuser that they will not be believed or that if they tell, they will destroy their family. There are signs of abuse that parents should watch for, said Glover, including any sudden changes in behavior, such as hygiene. If a child is suddenly excessively washing themselves, or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, suddenly not caring for themselves at all, or withdrawing socially and letting their grades fall, all can indicate abuse.

Parents should also be alert for odd behavior from adults in the child’s life, including males who offer to babysit, said Glover.

“Babysitting for little kids has always predominantly been handled by women and when you have a male who volunteers to watch your kids— it’s not normal,” he said. “That’s a red flag.”

Another red flag, he adds, is children who talk of things of a sexual nature or act out sexual behaviors. Parents should be asking questions if these signs become apparent. Most importantly, he adds, talks with children should be had with prevention in mind.

“Have conversations with your kid about the parts of their bodies that no one is allowed to touch,” said Glover. “Talk about what is appropriate and what is not and have those conversations early and let them know if someone does touch them inappropriately, they need to tell you.”

See Abuse, page 25