Transgender teen attacked in Gloucester woods; Police assign hate crime detective to case

    GLOUCESTER, Massachusetts (WCVB) -- An injured transgender teenager and his mother allege that a group of other teens committed a hate crime when they beat him up in the woods and a Massachusetts police chief has assigned a specially trained detective to investigate the case.

"One second I was having fun and the next second I was on the ground getting my face stomped and beat up," said Jayden Tkaczyk, who told NewsCenter 5 that he has endured bullying for years.

The transgender 16-year-old had a black eye when he and his mother, Jasmine Tkaczyk, spoke on a video call with NewsCenter 5.

"There was a lot of people on me, beating me up and I was getting stomped on and punched in the face and I had multiple knots all over my head like bruises," Jayden Tkaczyk said.

Chief Edward Conley, of the Gloucester Police Department, confirmed in a statement that officers responded to the wooded area near Dogtown Road at approximately 10:45 p.m. on Friday to look for a missing person.

"Upon arrival, officers learned that there had been a dispute among teenagers during a party in the woods," the department's statement said.

Officers found the teen in the woods and Conley said the fire department took the teen to a hospital for treatment.

Conley said that a detective "trained in civil rights investigations" was assigned to lead the case and that the police department was in contact with the Essex County District Attorney’s Office for additional support.

Conley also said that the investigation already has access to videos, is aware of related social media postings and has conducted some interviews.

"There is some information that we have right now from statements, early statements, that in an abundance of caution, we are going to assign a specially trained investigator to lead the investigation, who is specially trained in hate crime investigations," he said.

"Jayden told me as they were stomping on his face they were using the F slur so I don't know how anyone can justify that and say that's not a hate crime," said Jasmine Tkaczyk.

"Especially chasing me into the woods and saying that same thing, because they were calling me that slur and they were calling me worse slurs," said Jayden Tkaczyk.

School officials said counselors will be on campus to help support students in the wake of this incident.