Former assistant principal Clifton D. Boyd was arrested Friday on St. Thomas, three months after the Source first reported that multiple former students had accused him of inappropriate touching, grooming, and sexual misconduct dating back more than a decade. The arrest follows a new complaint from a male student who said Boyd abused him while he attended Joseph Gomez Elementary School during the 2019–2020 school year.

According to a statement Friday from the Virgin Islands Police Department, the student first disclosed the abuse to a school nurse on August 22, prompting an investigation. The student later told police that Boyd would remove him from class and bring him to his office, where he was forced to perform sexual acts — abuse he said continued until he left Gomez. VIPD obtained an arrest warrant on Nov. 19 and took Boyd into custody Friday morning at approximately 10:15 a.m.

The arrest comes amid months the Source’s September investigative piece, Where the Sun Doesn’t Shine (Part 1), in which two former students described incidents ranging from unwanted touching to late-night stalking and repeated boundary violations tied to Boyd’s roles at E. Benjamin Oliver Elementary, Julius Sprauve School, and his summer program, Brighter Writers. Both women said they reported Boyd’s behavior to school officials years ago but never learned of any follow-up, and each was shocked to discover he continued to rise through the ranks.

In that report, Education officials acknowledged Boyd had previously been the subject of internal complaints, including one forwarded by a Gomez principal. The outcome of those proceedings remains unclear. Multiple attempts by the Source to obtain records of past complaints, findings from Division of Personnel hearings, or timelines of administrative action were redirected as officials said the investigation was ongoing.

Friday’s arrest marked the first time authorities publicly confirmed the nature of the newest allegation. VIPD Commissioner Mario Brooks described the case as an ongoing, active investigation handled by the Domestic Violence & Special Victims Unit. “This type of conduct is unacceptable,” Martinez said, adding that anyone who abuses students “will be held accountable” and “will live out the remainder of their days behind bars.”

The Virgin Islands Department of Education released its own statement late Friday, confirming that Boyd had been under internal investigation prior to the arrest. The department said it continues to review allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct and reiterated that “any form of misconduct… has no place within our school system.” The agency added that leadership has been reminded of mandatory reporting obligations and that student safety “will always remain our highest priority.”

Both VIDE and VIPD have said they are cooperating with federal and local authorities. It remains unclear how many complaints against Boyd were filed over his three decades in the district, or whether any were previously forwarded to police. The Source reported in September that a separate investigation — tied to the case of former Charlotte Amalie High School coach Alfredo Bruce Smith, now serving a 35-year federal sentence — was also pending, highlighting longstanding concerns about reporting gaps and the handling of misconduct allegations inside the territory’s schools.

For now, Boyd remains detained at the Bureau of Corrections, awaiting his Advice of Rights hearing scheduled for Monday, Nov. 24. Investigators continue to urge anyone with information to contact VIPD’s Domestic Violence Unit or 911.

Advocates for the rights of people living in the U.S. Insular Areas are hosting two upcoming panel discussions on the power of Congress and the White House to control the territories. Organizers with the group Right to Democracy said they wanted to open a dialogue shortly after hearing about an opinion issued by Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch.

The mid-November opinion written by Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas, said it was time to reject the doctrine of plenary power because it has no basis in the U.S. Constitution. According to Right to Democracy co-founder Neil Weare, the opinion marks the first time that a federal judge has openly questioned that doctrine.

Legal scholars say that for more than a century, Congress and the White House have used the plenary powers doctrine to exercise almost unlimited control over the affairs of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. “Congress and the president base their decisions about putting military assets in the territories or managing the Virgin Islands National Park on St. John or pollution controls at the oil refinery on St. Croix,” Weare said in an interview given to the Source on Thursday.

Panelists are scheduled to address the concepts raised in the Gorsuch opinion in virtual sessions set for Monday, Nov. 24t at 5 p.m. EST, 6 p.m. AST, and 11 a.m. in American Samoa, along with Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 8 a.m. in Guam/Northern Mariana Islands. Topics expected to be raised there include: where the “plenary power” doctrines come from; what it means for Congress to hold power over U.S. territories; a look at the Territories Clause and its role in supporting plenary powers; and how keeping the doctrine in place impacts the future of democracy in the United States.

Panelists include Columbia Law School Professor Christina Ponsa-Kraus, Rutgers Law Professor Rose Cuison-Villazor, Cesar Lopez-Morales, Counsel at Orrick, and Anthony Ciolli, co-author of the forthcoming legal casebook “Law of U.S. Territories.”

Ciolli currently serves as senior advisor to the V.I. Supreme Court and is the co-author of a legal casebook on how insular statutes affect U.S. Virgin Island law.

Weare said since the group announced the upcoming forums, they have received requests from people living in all U.S. territories to tune into the dialogue with the following link , and several from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, site of a recent military buildup.

The Right to Democracy leader said many of those concerns are also mirrored in Guam, his home territory.