Adopted Child Molested By Winthrop Dad; Kids Forced To Sleep On Floor, Not Shower: DA

Officials charged a Winthrop man this week with sexually assaulting one of three boys he adopted from Columbia over the summer, authorities said. 

Kiyoshi Yu, 52, is charged with assault and battery on a child under 14, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said. A judge ordered him held on $2,500 bail. Yu is not to have contact with the children and must forfeit his passport as part of his bail agreement, authorities said.

Investigators said Yu adopted the three boys — ages 8, 9, and 13 — from Bogota last summer. One of the children said Yu repeatedly abused him in a Columbian hotel before coming to the United States, where the abuse continued, police alleged. 

The charge stems from one incident where Yu forced the boy to stroke his penis, the prosecutor said. 

Police began investigating Yu in August when Rhode Island officers found the boys in a car parked at a casino, where he was gambling the prosecutor said. They told the police that Yu made them sleep on the floor, would not let them shower, and made them wear the same clothes for days on end. 

“There are many disturbing aspects of this case, and it certainly is not representative of the massive majority of adoptive parents who strive to present safe, loving environments for their children," District Attorney Kevin Hayden said. "I thank the investigators for their sensitive work with these children, and certainly the children themselves for relaying the disturbing conduct of this individual."