Grown man allegedly whipped 12-year-old boy with belt near NYC playground in anti-gay hate crime attack

A grown man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly whipping a young boy with a belt and hurling anti-gay statements at him near a Manhattan playground earlier this year.

Kevin Maxwell, 37, was cuffed just before 1 a.m. on Sunday for allegedly assaulting the 12-year-old boy near a playground at the NYCHA Baruch Houses on the Lower East Side on the evening of April 29, according to the NYPD.

Maxwell, of Brooklyn, allegedly approached the pre-teen and yelled vile anti-LGBTQIA+ statements at him before striking him with a belt, cops said.

“Are you stupid or something? You gay f—. Shut the f–k up,” Maxwell allegedly told the boy, Pix 11 reported at the time.

The 12-year-old boy sustained minor injuries in the hateful attack. Maxwell fled the scene and remained on the lam for several months.

He was charged with two counts of hate crime assault, three counts of assault, acting in a manner injurious to a child, hate crime/menacing, and menacing, police said.

Police previously released a sketch of a bearded suspect wearing a hooded sweatshirt.