Xavier Cruz’s guilty plea for the rape and indecent assault and battery of a 14-year-old resident at the now-shuttered Greylock group home in Springfield has revealed what a victim’s rights attorney describes as a catastrophic failure of the Massachusetts state background check system.
While the 34-year-old was recently sentenced to 13 to 15 years at Souza-Baranowski State Prison, an investigation into his employment history reveals that Cruz was licensed to work with vulnerable children despite a specific court order that should have disqualified him from the position.
25 Investigates reviewed Cruz’s criminal history. It began nearly two decades ago with charges ranging from assault and battery to larceny, but it was his actions in 2020 that should have sounded alarms with state regulators.
While employed as a home health care worker, Cruz stole an engagement ring and wedding band from a 91-year-old woman on oxygen and her daughter. A Superior Court judge placed him on probation and ordered that he refrain from any employment involving elders or people with disabilities.
Despite the order, the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) approved Cruz to work as an overnight supervisor at Greylock, a Springfield facility affiliated with the Department of Children and Families.
It was in this capacity that prosecutors say he groomed and assaulted a teenager with mental health struggles while she was in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF).
“He enjoyed the attention that he received from these girls. He sort of bragged in his interviews that he was told that some of the girls had a crush on him,” Hampden County Assistant District Attorney Amy Wilson said during Cruz’s sentencing hearing.
Erica Brody, a Boston-based attorney representing the victim’s family, characterized the situation as a failure at every level, noting the inherent shock of a person under court order being granted access to a facility for children with disabilities.
“You have a person who was on Superior Court probation. He was ordered not to work with disabled people and he was hired to work in a group home with disabled children,” Brody told Investigative Reporter Ted Daniel.
This case is not an isolated incident within the EEC’s licensing history. 25 Investigates previously reported that roughly 500 home daycare providers in Greater Boston and in areas north of the city have been approved for licenses since 2020 despite having open or closed criminal cases.
This includes licensed providers with histories of heroin trafficking and violent offenses. When asked to provide the specific records used to evaluate and clear Cruz for his role at Greylock, EEC denied the request, citing state and federal laws that prohibit the public release of individual background check results.
The agency also declined to provide an interview or specific context regarding Cruz’s hiring, stating only that it does not comment on matters related to pending litigation. However, details emerging from the sentencing hearing suggest a longer pattern of alleged misconduct. Prosecutor Wilson revealed that Cruz had been involved in two prior incidents, including the alleged abuse of an 11-year-old at a different group home.
The impact on the victim remains profound. During the court proceedings, Prosecutor Wilson described how the young woman continues to suffer from severe anxiety and self-harm, triggered by her memories and even by the sight of vehicles like the one Cruz drove.
For Attorney Brody and the family she represents in a sweeping lawsuit, the 13-year prison sentence is only one part of the necessary resolution. They contend that both the facility and the licensing agency must be held accountable for allowing a known “red flag” to bypass the protections meant for the state’s most vulnerable residents.
“It truly boggles the mind that Xavier Cruz was hired by Greylock and licensed by EEC,” Brody said. “This is a huge crisis that’s going on across the whole state.”
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