BOSTON — Another one.

MBTA Transit Police on Tuesday released two surveillance stills of the man they say allegedly took upskirt photos of women riding the South Station Red Line escalator around 9 a.m. Friday — a heavy-set male in a purple polo, jeans, and dark sneakers, with over-ear headphones and a dark backpack.

Anyone who recognizes him is asked to call Transit Police's Criminal Investigation Unit at 617-222-1050. Tips can be anonymous.

Upskirting on the T is not new. It is not rare. And the state of Massachusetts had to pass a law making it illegal only after the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2014 that photographing up a stranger's skirt on the subway was, in fact, not against the law — a decision so brazen the legislature moved within days to close the loophole. Every incident since is a reminder that our courts, until very recently, thought this was fine.

The MBTA has run anti-sexual-harassment campaigns for more than a decade. Transit Police maintain a hotline (617-222-1212) for reporting sexual violence, and the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center takes calls too. In April 2024, Transit Police arrested a 64-year-old Boston man for allegedly upskirting a minor at Back Bay Station.

And here we are again.

Women who ride the T every day do not need MDN to tell them what commuting through South Station looks like. They already know: crowded escalators, cameras that may or may not catch anything, and a nonzero chance that some creep with a phone is filming up their skirt in the ten seconds it takes to get from the platform to the concourse. Riders in flip-flops in the summer months have learned to walk in a way that keeps their bag or a folder behind them on the escalator. That is what "safe public transit" looks like in 2026.

The suspect in these two photos is on the loose because someone knows him — a coworker, a neighbor, a family member — and has not yet picked up the phone. He rides the same escalator on the same commute as thousands of Bostonians. Somebody in that crowd has seen his purple polo, seen him at the bus stop, seen him at the corner store. Look at the pictures. If it is him, call the number.

Tip line: MBTA Transit Police Criminal Investigation Unit, 617-222-1050. Tips can be anonymous.