James and Michael Power Accused of Charlestown Boys Club Rape

On October 25, 2021, I sent a letter to James Owen Power of Indian River Shores in Florida and another to his fraternal twin, Michael Francis Power of Aiken in South Carolina. In the letters, I accused them both of the committing the crime I have been writing about for the last twenty‑five years.

I accused James of being the ringleader who instigated his homosexual brother to rape a roomful of nude, crying and desperately frightened pre‑teen boys but also of participating himself in the torture of those children by threatening them with murder and forcing them to beg for their lives, at least in my case.

My allegations are based on (1) extensive research, (2) an anonymous tip, (3) my conversation with the assistant camp director from 1963, Edmund Moussally, and (4) a photograph of the five Power siblings at a wedding.

When warned about these accusations becoming public, Edmund Moussally denied ever telling me anything when I met him at the Prudential Food Court in Boston in December 1999, and he denied ever saying the name “James” to me as one of the perpetrators. In response to Mr. Moussally’s false reporting, I would ask my readers to read verbatim exactly what he said to me in a phone conversation just days after our Food Court meeting in December of 2000. Please read the transcript.

Michael Francis Power refused all attempts at contact but finally hired an attorney who said Michael Power would not answer any questions whatsoever. That was not a surprise and was, in fact, predicted, twice.

Nor was it surprising that James Owen Power denied having anything to do with the crime I have alleged. But, unfortunately for James Power, he left a lot of incriminating circumstantial evidence behind in his movements over the years, all of which I documented.

According to the City Census in 1963, James Power was living at his parent’s residence in Charlestown, at an appended and separate address in the rear. In 1964, according to those same records, he was gone. And according to Florida state records, he established an engineering business in Florida in 1963. He married soon thereafter and divorced quickly before finally marrying his longtime wife of today.

But the more damning evidence is his visits to my website, which operated under different domain names over the years. He visited the current website, JamesChester.org, in 2020 from a local school library, which he was instructed to do, so that he could pass himself off as a typical visitor from academia, of which I have thousands. But then in 2020, showing no intent to hide himself, he visited directly from his residence on Weaver Drive in Oviedo. I have Internet tracing records that go to his house.

What is most curious is that before establishing contact with either Power twin, Michael also visited my website, in March of 2021, as the allegations were breaking. And I have Internet records as well that go directly to his house, too. The only possible explanation for that visit would be his brother, James, warning him that the allegations were about to break. I believe James Power was kept fully informed and advised for a very long time before my allegations became public.

But without a doubt, the single most damning evidence I found was the following picture of the Power siblings at a wedding in the 1980s.

And there should be no mistake in understanding that I was not supposed to find this picture. It is the only picture of James Owen Power on the Internet.

I found it on a genealogy website that someone in his family took to as a hobby to document their family’s heritage. There are numerous photographs, including one of James, in 1963, but all such photographs are password‑protected and unavailable for access. I could have easily paid a hacker to get me access, but that would have been illegal and I chose not to do it for that reason. Given the apparent lockdown of the genealogy website and the extreme scarcity of links pertaining to “James Owen Power” on the Internet, in my opinion, the publication of this photograph was a mistake; the hobbyist forgot to password‑protect it. And it was all I needed to identify him — because I never forgot his face.

I have one image of Michael Power in my mind that I never forgot. It is the image of him standing next to his brother James, who were both on either side of the door leading into the gym office. James was standing on the side nearest the exit from the gym. Michael was smiling enthusiastically and very confidently as he and his brother ordered me into the room. As I explained earlier, I was the last one who was pulled away from the basketball practice on the gym floor that afternoon because I knew something terrible was happening in that room, as each boy was called individually. When my turn came, I refused. Michael said, “but you have to because everyone else has and now it’s your turn.” I ran for the door. With James closest, the two of them chased me down, caught me, and dragged me into the room as I kicked and yelled to get away. That is the most lasting image I have of Michael. And then, of course, there were the numerous rapes that Michael committed that afternoon, but that is something else. In addition, I have very vague memories of Michael Power participating in the harassment and trial runs on the different days that led up to their wild abandon on that one fateful afternoon.

James, however, went with us on our bus trips. And I have two memories of him. As I have said before, he was sadistic because he liked inflicting harm, especially psychological harm, like fear. On one occasion, while visiting a lake, he tried to push me into the water. I thought it happened totally out of the blue and totally unexpected. That was the first time I took a serious look at him. Then, on a second occasion, he tried to do the same thing at the baseball park opposite the Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary alongside the Charles River. I believe that second time might have actually been the same day we returned to the Club and went to the gym before the assault.

And finally, during the assault, while Michael was perpetrating irrumation on me as I sat between his legs on the floor, I looked up and to my left at his brother James who was looking me right in the eye and showing his scornful and sadistic satisfaction in the harm that was being done to me by his brother right in front of him. He was thoroughly enjoying the infliction of injury upon a child much younger and smaller than him. I saw that on his face. I saw his satisfaction.

And finally, the next day, while we were assembled on the front porch waiting for our bus, it was James who walked up to me seemingly out of the blue and quite suddenly, looking me right in the eye — again, and stated “And I know you will do what you are told,” once again threatening me. I believe that was the day after.

So, there was no doubt about my memory of James’ face. It was crystal clear in my mind.

Finding a picture of that face all these decades later (without a name) would prove difficult. That was the gamble the Boys and Girls Club of Boston took. And they lost. However, when I started looking, I began with the Charlestown Patriot newspaper which published a wealth of information and pictures from my time at the Charleston Boys Club in the 60s. They even published a picture of me. But there was not one picture of James, not one.

But pictures of Michael are abundant. There are even pictures of him at times that I calculate are after the crime was committed. Why, I wondered, would the Boys Club, which published the Charlestown Patriot Newspaper as its own public newspaper, publish so many pictures of Michael if they knew what he had done? And the only explanation I could find was that the Boys Club considered him a victim of the crime as well, not a perpetrator. I think they blamed everything on James, who, in fact, was the ringleader, the instigator. And James left town immediately afterward. Michael actually stuck around and went on to attend college in Boston.

In any case, though my memories of Michael are less clear than my distinct memories of James, it was an anonymous source that identified Michael to me as the person who carried out the actual assaults. And that source, who is another victim that was in the room with me, has proven himself very reliable with all the relevant names he has provided.

So I allege.