18-Year-Old Confesses To Molesting 'Upwards Of 50 Children' In California: Police

An 18-year-old California man confessed this weekend to molesting “upwards of 50 children” across the state over the past eight years, according to police.

Joseph Hayden Boston’s mother drove him to a police station early Saturday, according to the the Riverside Police Department. She said Boston had told her over the phone that he’d molested two boys, ages 4 and 8, in his motel room on Friday night. She then picked him up and drove him to a police station, where she turned him in.

Boston had been staying at a motel in Riverside when he met the two boys, police said. The kids had been staying at the motel with their parents but had been permitted to go into Boston’s room.

Officer Ryan Railsback of the Riverside Police Department told the Los Angeles Times that Boston confessed to sexually assaulting the two children at the motel and also to “molesting up to 50 children since the age of 10 in different cities where he had lived,” including Lakewood and Buena Park. An investigation into these alleged crimes is reportedly ongoing.

Boston was arrested and jailed on suspicion of counts of oral copulation on a child under the age of 10. His bond was set at $1 million.

Police said the two alleged victims have been taken into custody by child protective services.

Railsback told KABC-TV that Boston’s alleged crimes had long-term implications.

“This is going to affect not only the victims for a long time, but also our detectives and officers involved in this ― to hear someone just be very open about what they’ve done, and they’re only 18 themselves,” the officer said.

Anyone with information about the suspect or investigation has been urged to contact Detective Paul Miranda at (951) 353-7945 or pmiranda@riversideca.gov.