Bo Gunnar Hansson of Sweden.
By: Jen Russon
A Swedish man who visits Coral Springs each year was charged with a lewd and lascivious act on a 13-year-old boy according to a police report filed on Monday.
The suspect, who lives part-time in an apartment located in the 5000 block of University Drive, is 85-year-old Bo Gunnar Hansson. Hansson, who is unemployed, is being held on $100,000 bond and has been forced to surrender his passport.
The lewd and lascivious act allegedly occurred on Thursday, January 3, when Hansson approached the victim as he used the exercise equipment at Fern Glen Park, at 4801 NW 66th Terrace.
The victim told police he had seen Hansson, a stranger to him, at Fern Glen Park numerous times, but had never interacted with him before.
While hanging from the monkey bars, the boy reported that Hansson approached him, asking if he could assist the teen. According to the report, Hansson proceeded to grab the boy by his pants legs, until he became uncomfortable enough to abandon the monkey bars and do sit-ups, on a bench located elsewhere in the park.
Hansson followed the boy to the sit-up bench and touched the teen’s penis, over his clothes, in a back and forth motion that alarmed the victim enough to run away.
The boy, who had visited the park without his parents, rejoined a family member in Fern Glen Park immediately after the encounter. The family member corroborated the teen’s story with a sworn statement to Coral Springs Police.
It was not the first time Hansson was accused of lewd and lascivious behavior.
Prior to the incident at Fern Glen Park, Margate Police responded to two teenage boys who said Hansson made inappropriate contact with them in a park inside their jurisdiction. On January 4, the teens told them that Hansson had asked about their training and fitness and attempted to touch their muscles. The teens said they “swatted the old man’s hand away” right after he told them where he lives.
Police made contact with Hansson at his Coral Springs apartment after positive identification was made by the 13-year-old victim.
Hansson, who is not a U.S. citizen, was set to return to Sweden on January 16, and is considered a flight risk.
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