For Immediate Release August 18, 2008                                
Contact: Corey Welford/Jessica Venezia 781-897-8325

Former Waltham Youth Coach Pleads Guilty To Child Pornography Charges
Defendant Involved In Waltham Pop Warner, Boy Scouts, And North Waltham Little League

WALTHAM – Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone informed the public today that a Waltham man has pleaded guilty to child pornography and child enticement charges.

James Aucoin, 46, of Waltham, pleaded guilty today to charges of possession of child pornography and child enticement. Waltham District Court Judge Tobin N. Harvey sentenced Aucoin to 2.5 years in the House of Correction, 120 days to be served, with the balance suspended for seven years, on the child pornography charge. On the child enticement charge, the defendant was sentenced to seven years probation. Conditions of his probation include that Aucoin:
Stay 300 feet or more away from schools, daycare centers, parks, and playgrounds;
Participate in and complete sex offender evaluation and treatment;
Not have any unsupervised contact with children under age 18;
Be severely restricted in his use of computers and the Internet; and
Be placed on a GPS bracelet.
 
Aucoin must now also register as a sex offender with the Commonwealth’s Sex Offender Registry Board. 

“We take all cases of child exploitation seriously, and our concern was only heightened when we learned of the defendant’s regular access to children through the youth activities that he was involved in,” District Attorney Leone said. “With this conviction, not only will he have served time in jail and been forced to register as sex offender, but he will also have strict restrictions placed on him to limit his interaction with young people.”

In March, Waltham Police were contacted by a Keene, New Hampshire police officer. The officer stated that he had been conducting an online sting in which he had been posing as a 14-year-old boy. That undercover officer had engaged in several online conversations with a person later identified as the defendant.  The defendant told the “boy” he would travel to New Hampshire to meet the boy for sex.

On April 1, Waltham Police applied for and were granted a search warrant to seize any computer systems and electronic storage devices at the residence of the defendant. An analysis of the defendant’s computer found multiple images of naked children posing and engaged in sexual activities.

Aucoin had been involved as a Boy Scout leader and as a coach in both Waltham Pop Warner and North Waltham Little League.

On April 11, Aucoin was arrested and arraigned on charges of possession of child pornography and distributing material of a child in a sexual act. Waltham District Court Judge Tobin Harvey set $2,000 cash bail. On April 16, his bail was increased from $2,000 to $25,000 by Judge Harvey. Aucoin did not post bail and remained incarcerated since that time.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michael Chinman. The case was investigated by Waltham Police, Keene (NH) Police, and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Child Abuse Unit.

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