Crime
Investigators determined that the man sexually assaulted at least two foster children but may have had additional victims.
A Dorchester man will spend decades behind bars for sexually abusing two foster children who were placed in his family’s home, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Taryl Ford, 46, was found guilty on April 15 on four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and one count of disseminating obscene matter to a minor, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. He was sentenced Monday to 28 to 40 years in state prison and five years of probation.
From 2007 to 2018, Ford’s mother fostered at least 34 children at the family’s home on Glenarm Street, according to prosecutors. The home had two units, with Ford living in the second unit as an approved secondary foster care provider.
Ford was active in the foster children’s lives and would often watch them by himself, the DA’s office said. He would also play with them, help them with their homework, and take them places, according to prosecutors.
The first of Ford’s victims testified that he was sexually abused at the Dorchester home when he was five to six years old. During Ford’s sentencing hearing, he described the lasting impacts of the abuse in a statement read by prosecutors.
“Because of what was done to me by an adult who knew better, I have experienced emotional setbacks that have followed me into my teenage years, affecting how I see myself, trust others, and feel safe,” the victim wrote. “Instead of being able to fully enjoy my childhood, I have spent much of it feeling angry, hurt, and scared carrying things no child should have to carry.”
Ford’s second victim, who was present in court Monday, was sexually abused when he was seven to eight years old, according to the DA’s office. Ford orally and anally raped him and showed him pornography.
“Every day I was in that house, I felt like a stranger living in someone else’s world, and I never want anyone, child or not, to feel the way I felt or go through what I had to go through,” the second victim said. “I don’t feel like this case is just about me. I feel like it is about the other kids that the defendant hurt and all the kids the defendant could hurt if they were to ever be free again.”
The second victim’s parents were also present Monday and described Ford as a “monster that lives under the bed but never stays under the bed.” They said that Ford and his family have been “destroying families after families for years” and “damaging those members in a way that can’t be explained.”
“I had to help my son heal,” the second victim’s mother said. “I needed to make sure that he understands for the rest of his life that this was not his fault and he is the bravest kid I’ve ever met.”
A third foster child who was also in the custody of Ford’s family witnessed the second victim being abused and was shown pornography by Ford, prosecutors said. Ford was eventually indicted for his crimes in August 2022, according to court records.
Ford is required to register with the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board, prosecutors said. Following his imprisonment, he will be barred from living or working with people under the age of 18, and must avoid work with the foster care system or the Department of Children and Families and complete a psychological evaluation, court records show.
Investigators suspect that Ford may have had additional victims because of the number of children who lived in his family’s home. Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden has urged anyone who may have been victimized to call the Boston Police Crimes Against Children Unit at 617-343-6183 or the Suffolk County Child Protection Unit at 617-619-4300.
“These courageous victims eloquently described the lasting impacts of this serial abuse on them. And, to their enormous credit, they also expressed their concern for other children who may have been hurt,” Hayden said in Tuesday’s statement. “We hope anyone else who may have been abused by Taryl Ford will contact authorities. They do not have to bear this pain alone.”
Ford’s attorneys, Jeffrey Garland and Tanvi Verma, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday evening.
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