The infamous Boy Fiend of Boston

He was the Boy Fiend, the Red Devil, the scourge of Boston and the source of nightmares. In 1872 terrified little boys in Chelsea and South Boston reported that a “big boy” with a bad eye lured them from safety with promises of candy or a trip to the circus then fiendishly stripped them, tied them up, and tortured them. Shocking indeed, but what disturbed the citizens of Boston even more was that the perpetrator of these abominable crimes was but a child himself: twelve-year-old Jesse Harding Pomeroy.

Jesse felt neither guilt nor remorse for the suffering of these children, nor could he articulate why he committed such terrible deeds, leaving it to others to debate the origin of his criminal activity. A bad home environment, some pronounced, while others held to the “bad seed” theory as evidenced by his disconcerting bad eye. Still others were convinced that Jesse’s penchant for that most heinous of activities – reading dime novels – stirred up passions and violence that led him astray.

Whatever the cause, the courts sentenced Jesse to reform school for six years. Tragically the Boy Torturer only served two years and was released to the care of his mother where he was free again to prey on the children of Boston, only this time he made sure his victims would tell no tales. This truly shocking account of America’s youngest serial killer is capably told in Roseanne Montillo’s The Wilderness of Ruin.