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Accused Serial Groper Stalks Greenpoint Mom, Terrorizes Locals, Victims Say

By Gwynne Hogan | February 7, 2017 11:27am
 Christopher Boissard, 25.
Christopher Boissard, 25.
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Facebook/Christopher Boissard

GREENPOINT — An accused serial groper who has attacked and stalked a neighborhood mom continues to target other local woman — seemingly undeterred by restraining orders against him, police and his victims said.

Christopher Boissard, 25 — a deaf man who's been arrested more than 30 times on various low-level charges — has three pending groping cases against him and a conviction for attacking and harassing his own father, court records show.

He has violated orders of protection barring him from going near his alleged victims at least six times, in a pattern neighbors worry could get someone killed.

Greenpoint mom Shannon Clare, 43, who has lived in the neighborhood for six years, has been a frequent target of Boissard's unwelcome attention.

He first attacked and groped her on Jan. 23 near the corner of Manhattan Avenue and Freeman Street, she said.

"I was coming from a [school] meeting, going to buy snacks for my 3-year-old," Clare said. "I saw this man look at me with this s--t-eating grin on his face. The next thing I know he slammed me and grabbed me and held me, and rubbed his hands all over my chest."

Police later tracked down Boissard and arrested him with two switchblades on him, prosecutors said.

He was charged with forcible touching, harassment and weapons possession, records show. A judge issued an order of protection for Clare and released Boissard on $1,000 bail on Friday, Jan. 27, court records show.

But a day later, he rushed Clare a second time, she said.

"The first time I left the house by myself Saturday, I was watching for him," she said, noting she spotted him near the intersection of Manhattan Avenue and Huron Street that day around 4 p.m. "He ran across the street toward me. I stood my ground, stared at him."

She then pulled out her phone and gestured that she was dialing police, causing Boissard to run away. He was later arrested for violating the active order of protection, court records show.

Prosecutors asked for $50,000 bail after that violation, but Judge Elizabeth Warin released Boissard on his own recognizance, according to court records and prosecutors.

"He was arrested again and let go again," Clare said.

Then, this past Saturday at 6:20 p.m., Clare heard him yelling outside her window, she said.

"He was across the street shouting at my building," she said. "Then he went to the corner and acted like he was f---ing the air." Boissard was again arrested for violating the order of protection for Clare and hit with additional stalking charges, court records show.

Earlier that same the day, at 12:30 p.m., Boissard fondled a woman's breasts and shoved her inside a store near India Street and Manhattan Avenue, as workers at the store repeatedly asked him to leave, prosecutors said.

For that attack, Boissard now faces felony sex abuse charges. It's the third time in five months he's been charged with groping, but the first time he's been hit with a felony rather than misdemeanor charges. He is being held on $10,000 bail for the two crimes over the weekend.

Before that, Boissard was usually out of jail in a matter of days.

Last fall, on Sept. 11, he fondled a woman's breasts at the intersection of Manhattan Avenue and Freeman Street at around 9:30 p.m., according to prosecutors. He was arrested, and Judge Matthew J. D'Emic set bail at $500, which he posted, court records show.

Boissard has also attacked and harassed his own father, a tailor who works at a dry cleaner on Manhattan Avenue.

In 2014, Boissard pleaded guilty to criminal contempt and third-degree assault charges stemming from a 2012 attack on his father. Judge Joseph Gubbay sentenced him to a six- to eight-month drug-treatment program in Rochester, New York, court records show.

He was told he could avoid jail time if he successfully completed the program.

But since then, he's violated orders of protection for his father at least four times — one time smashing the the window of the laundromat where his dad worked, M+W Dry Cleaners at 995 Manhattan Ave., and punching him in the mouth, authorities said.

Boissard's father, Julio, said his son has a drinking problem but declined to comment further.

"He's very aggressive. The police are already tired of this. Whenever we call, it's because of him," the laundromat's owner, Miriam Carballo, 58, said in Spanish.

"Here, they're going to kill him, or he's going to kill someone — one of those two things," she added.

Workers at Manhattan Avenue's Champion Coffee said that two weeks before Boissard groped Clare, police were called after he chased several women down the avenue, though no police report was filed.

He's shoved customers inside local businesses, and sometimes walks in and screams before running out, witnesses said. Shopkeepers say they keep a watchful eye on Boissard.

"It doesn't matter if it's male or female," said Manuel Rodriguez, 47, who works at a bodega on the corner of Manhattan and Clay avenues, noting he's seen Boissard coming into contact with his customers. "[I've seen him] acting weird, bumping into [customers], getting closer to them."

His Legal Aid attorney, Lauren Katzman, maintains her client's innocence and argued that normal incarceration would be a problem because of his deafness.

"These are simply allegations. He has not been found guilty,"  she said, noting Boissard is a lifelong resident of the neighborhood. "He's a 25-year-old deaf man, and Rikers Island is brutal for everyone let alone [a deaf person]."

Katzman said her client "would face serious risks" at the jail, adding that his hearing impairment makes communicating more difficult and that guards might misinterpret his behavior as non-compliance. Additionally, if there was a fire, he wouldn't be able to hear the alarms, she said.

Helen Peterson, a spokeswoman for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, called the repeated charges against Boissard "disturbing allegations."

"We take them seriously," she added. "We intend to prosecute these cases and hold the defendant accountable."

Clare — who's organizing a march for safe streets on March 4 at 1 p.m., starting at Manhattan Avenue and Milton Street — said Boissard needs more than just a slap on the wrist.

"This is a game to this guy, and he needs a serious sentence to make him understand that he can't just play the system and run roughshod over the community," she said.