Temar Boggs is the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, teenager who became a national figure in July 2013 after chasing down a kidnapper on his bicycle and rescuing a five-year-old girl, and who three years later pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced to 40 months to 10 years in state prison.
The 2013 Rescue
On the afternoon of July 11, 2013, five-year-old Jocelyn Rojas vanished from her front yard in Lancaster Township after a man lured her with the offer of ice cream. Police and neighbors searched for about two hours with no success. The suspect was described as a white man between 50 and 70 years old, walking with a limp, driving a reddish-purple or maroon sedan with round taillights.1CNN. Teens Hailed as Heroes After Girl’s Rescue
Boggs, then 15, had been helping a neighbor move furniture and joined the search on his bicycle with his friend Chris Garcia.2NBC News. Teens Rescue Abducted Girl1CNN. Teens Hailed as Heroes After Girl’s Rescue The driver eventually stopped, let Jocelyn out, and drove off. She ran to Boggs, who rode her partway home and carried her the rest of the way to a firefighter who returned her to her family.
The kidnapper was never publicly identified and, as of the last available reporting, remained at large.1CNN. Teens Hailed as Heroes After Girl’s Rescue
Recognition That Followed
The story drew national coverage. NBC News named Boggs its “Foot Soldier of the Week,” and in 2014 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children presented Boggs and Garcia with its Hope Award in Washington, D.C.2NBC News. Teens Rescue Abducted Girl Boggs played down the attention in interviews, telling the AFRO: “I just feel normal, like myself. I know I did it out of the kindness of my heart. It wasn’t like to be named as a hero or to be called a hero, put on a pedestal or anything.”3AFRO American Newspapers. Teen Hero Receives Hope Award for Rescuing Five-Year-Old Girl
The 2015 Armed Robbery
On December 17, 2015, Boggs robbed the El Coqui Market on North Plum Street in Lancaster at gunpoint and took about $200. During the robbery, he racked the slide of his gun as a threat to the clerk. A 16-year-old, Lamel Yelverton, acted as a lookout.4PennLive. Former Teen Hero Gets 40-Month Sentence After police released surveillance images, Boggs turned himself in in February 2016.5LancasterOnline. Local Teen Temar Boggs Hailed as Hero in Abduction Story, Pleads Guilty for Armed Robbery He pleaded guilty in June 2016 to felony counts of robbery and conspiracy.6NBC4i. Teen Hero Who Helped Save Girl From Abductor Gets Up to 10 Years for Armed Robbery
Sentencing
Judge Howard Knisely sentenced Boggs on August 19, 2016, to 40 months to 10 years in state prison, a standard-range sentence under Pennsylvania’s guidelines. The defense argued for a mitigated sentence, saying Boggs had been “drawn into the wrong crowd of friends after gaining notoriety” from the rescue. First Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Larsen pushed back, telling the court that Boggs “has always had a strong support system of relatives” and had escalated the robbery by racking the slide of his gun in front of the clerk.7Lancaster County, PA. Temar Boggs Sentencing
Where Things Stand
Boggs served his sentence at the State Correctional Institution Dallas in Luzerne County, with an earliest release date of June 6, 2019, and a maximum sentence running to February 6, 2026. The Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole denied his first application in February 2019, citing his “minimization/denial of the nature and circumstances of” the offense and his “lack of remorse,” and making him eligible for review again as early as August 2019. According to LancasterOnline, parole was eventually granted, though the exact date and conditions of release were not detailed in available reporting.8LancasterOnline. Temar Boggs’ First Parole Attempt Denied