Former assistant principal Clifton Boyd, arrested last month on child sexual abuse charges, has filed a motion for a bail reduction ahead of his arraignment Friday in Magistrate Court on St. Thomas, calling the current amount of $500,000 cash “punitive.”
Magistrate Judge Paula D. Norkaitis set Boyd’s bail at $500,000 at his advice of rights hearing Nov. 24, without the provision that he pay only 10%, meaning he would have to fund the full amount. In a motion filed Wednesday, he asked the court to reduce that figure to $100,000 and allow his release upon posting 10%, or $10,000.
“Since the advice of rights hearing, Boyd remains in pretrial detention because he is unable to raise the required” $500,000, according to the motion filed by attorney Clive Rivers, who notified the court on Monday that he will be representing Boyd.
“Boyd is not wealthy and cannot afford the current bond set by the Court as evidenced by his continued detainment and this motion for reduced bail. Specifically, unless Boyd and his family are independently wealthy, he would be wholly unable to post” a $500,000 bond, it says.
As evidence that he is not a flight risk, the motion notes that Boyd has lived on St. Thomas since 1972, has resided in the same home with his wife, Sharon Boyd, since 1990, and has “significant ties” to the community. Additionally, she would serve as his third-party custodian at their home in Caret Bay, it says.
It also notes that Boyd has no prior criminal record, was arrested on a warrant without incident, and his release would allow him “to adequately prepare for trial and his overall defense in this matter by assisting the undersigned with obtaining evidence including but not limited to witness testimony.”
Further, the motion states, in the Virgin Islands, “[a]ll persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties in the case of criminal offenses, except for first-degree murder or any capital offense when the proof is evident or the presumption great,” citing the Revised Organic Act § 3, which specifically prohibits “excessive bail.”
“Because Boyd is not charged with first-degree murder, he is entitled to have the Court set a reasonable bail and release conditions,” according to the motion, which also notes that “bail may not be used to punish a defendant or protect the community at large.”
Boyd is charged with two counts of second-degree unlawful sexual contact, first-degree aggravated rape, second-degree aggravated rape, and child abuse and faces a potential maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Boyd’s arrest Nov. 19 came two months after the Source first reported that multiple former students had accused him of inappropriate touching, grooming, and sexual misconduct dating back more than a decade, and followed a new complaint from a male student who told a school nurse at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on Aug. 22 that Boyd abused him while he attended Joseph Gomez Elementary School during the 2019–2020 school year.
At the time of the alleged assault, the student said he was in fifth or sixth grade, according to court documents. Subsequent encounters between the student and Boyd led to explicit sex acts behind a locked door in the principal’s office, they said.
After hearing the student’s account, the school nurse notified an administrator who, in turn, alerted police and Human Services Department.
Both VIDE and VIPD have said they are cooperating with federal and local authorities. It remains unclear how many complaints against Boyd were filed over his three decades in the district, or whether any were previously forwarded to police. The Source reported in September that a separate investigation — tied to the case of former Charlotte Amalie High School coach Alfredo Bruce Smith, now serving a 35-year federal sentence — was also pending, highlighting long-standing concerns about reporting gaps and the handling of misconduct allegations inside the territory’s schools.
Virgin Islands Attorney General Gordon Rhea has said that the investigation into Boyd is ongoing and appealed to the public to assist in whatever way they can by calling the CRIMESTOPPERS V.I. at 1-800-222-8477.
“Citizen tips are anonymous and are critical to the ongoing investigation,” he said after Boyd’s advice of rights hearing in November.
