DNA helps detectives catch suspect with multiple identities after sex assault of 14-year-old boy

Javoris 'Aceiyana' Phillips held in Broward without bond

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 14-year-old boy told police officers that "two males dressed as females" were driving around his neighborhood and had tried to talk him, but he ran away, according to an arrest report. He said they returned to kidnap him and sexually assault him behind an abandoned house in Fort Lauderdale. 

The teen told Fort Lauderdale Police Department officers that he was walking about 7:20 a.m., Aug. 6, 2017, when a man who looked "like a woman" punched him on the side of the head and another man who was wearing a wig dragged him behind a blue home at 1615 NW 5 St., in Fort Lauderdale.

The teen said he "knew the suspects were males, because when they talked they sounded like males," Officer Meredith Tisch wrote in her report.

They restrained him, and while one put a gun to his head, and the other threatened him with a knife, they both told him that if he screamed they would kill him, according to the arrest form. The teen survived to report the sexual assault to police officers. 

With the help of friends in the neighborhood, the teenage boy's uncle was able to help authorities identify Javoris "Aceiyana" Phillips as one of the suspects, according to a police report. Officers found the suspect on Facebook and determined he "has various looks including female."

With the help of the DNA evidence from the rape kit, Sgt. Hector Martinez identified the perpetrator as Nathan Phillips, an alias for the registered career offender. Officers learned Phillips is also known as Fredrick, Cedrick, Hannah, and sometimes uses variations of his first name.

He used his Javoris Phillips identity to registered his vehicle, a 2013 Hyundai the victim recognized.  

"Photographs taken of Javoris often change. Javoris has various different looks including female ... Regardless of the state's recognition as the suspect as a male, the suspect committed this aforementioned acts dressed as a female," Tisch said. 

There was a warrant out for Phillips' arrest April 24. He was arrested Wednesday and appeared in front of Broward Circuit Judge Dennis D. Bailey Thursday on charges of lewd and lascivious battery and two counts of kidnapping. He was being held without bond at the Broward County jail. 

Authorities didn't identify Phillips' alleged accomplice. 


About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.