Former Boy Scout leader accused of sexually assaulting a boy decades ago in Miami-Dade

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A former Boy Scout leader is facing a sex charge in Miami-Dade County after police say a man came forward to report molesting him as a young boy five decades ago, police said.

Joseph Mark Motes, 76, of Pembroke Pines, was taken into custody in Clay County on an Oct. 1 arrest warrant and transported to the Miami-Dade Jail Friday morning.

Police said the victim, who is now 62, told investigators the abuse began when he was about 8 to 10 years old and a member of a Boy Scout troop in what was then Dade County.

According to a Miami-Dade Police arrest warrant, detectives began investigating Motes, “a longtime leader within the organization,” in 2022 after the victim filed claims with the Boy Scouts of America amid a “nationwide appeal.” of the organization victims of sexual abuse come forward.

Police said BSA requested that the South Florida Council forward the claim, which documented “multiple incidents of sexual abuse,” to MDPD.

The warrant states that detectives interviewed the victim in November 2022.

In the warrant, veteran MDPD Special Victims Bureau detective Paul Espana wrote that the victim was part of Troop 272 while he was in elementary school and that Motes fostered “a close relationship” with the boy while serving as its leader.

Motes, the detective wrote, used that relationship to “manipulate and sexually abuse” the young boy.

Authorities said the victim was able to “recall and describe certain incidents in detail,” including a specific incident in which Motes abused him while parked in a vehicle at Twin Island Lake in the unincorporated Glenvar Heights area.

The victim told police that Motes “would give him tokens related to his military service as a gift or reward,” which he kept and could show to detectives, the warrant said.

The arrest warrant states that police found probable cause to jail Motes on charges of sexual abuse of a child.

As of Tuesday afternoon, he was being held without bond at the Metrowest Detention Center, Miami-Dade jail records show.