Boston nurse to be arraigned Monday for inappropriately touching two minors
BOSTON, July 24, 2026 -- A Hopedale man and former Boston Children’s Hospital nurse will be arraigned Monday July 27 in Suffolk Superior Court for sexually assaulting two teenage boys in his care, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
JOHN TAM, 33, was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on four counts of indecent assault and battery on a person fourteen years or older and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a patient by a health care provider.
Hayden urged parents whose children may have encountered Tam at Boston Children’s Hospital or at his prior workplaces, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, UMass Memorial Medical Center Worcester campus and UMass Memorial Medical Center Marlborough campus, to contact authorities if they have any suspicions that their children may have been assaulted.
“We are concerned that these may not be isolated incidents and we want to assure parents that any information they provide will be thoroughly and sensitively investigated,” Hayden said.
On September 19, 2022, a fifteen-year-old boy underwent surgery on his chest at Boston Children’s Hospital, located at 300 Longwood Ave. He was administered anesthesia during the surgery, and awoke to find his nurse, later identified as John Tam, inappropriately touching his genitals.
On January 2, 2025, Boston police responded to Boston Children’s Hospital for a report of a sexual assault. The minor victim had recently undergone surgery under anesthesia. His nurse, John Tam, was responsible for performing vital checks after the surgery concluded. Tam told the victim’s mother to get her car and drive to the entrance so the patient could be discharged. Tam dressed the victim, took him to the first floor, and brought him into a single-stall bathroom despite the victim not indicating he needed to use the restroom. Tam then sexually assaulted the victim for approximately eight minutes, including fondling his genitals and offering to pull up pornographic material on his phone to make the victim erect, before wheeling him outside to his mother’s vehicle. When the victim’s mother became aware of the situation, she immediately alerted hospital staff.
Officers reviewed security footage and observed Tam wheeling the victim to a bathroom and exiting nine minutes later.
While the victims and witnesses of any crime should call 911 in an emergency, there are additional resources available to report suspected crimes against children and for survivors of abuse to receive help. In Suffolk County, survivors of child abuse and exploitation and their non-offending caretakers can receive comprehensive services at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County. The CAC can be reached at 617-779-2146. Survivors may also contact the Child Protection Unit at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office at 617-619-4300. Anyone who believes that a child in Massachusetts may be the victim of abuse should call the DCF Child at Risk Hotline at 1-800-792-5200.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. Our office handles more than 20,000 cases a year. Nearly 160 assistant district attorneys practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Boston and Chelsea Juvenile Courts and the Supreme Judicial Court. Our office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs for anyone encountering the criminal justice system. We are committed to educating the public about our mission and services while focusing on crime prevention to keep the residents, workers and visitors of Suffolk County safe.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications