Tewksbury Man Pleads Guilty To Child Rape and Extortion Charges For Deceiving Young Victims Into Posing Nude Over the Internet

WOBURN– A Tewksbury man has pleaded guilty to child rape, extortion and numerous additional charges in connection with deceiving young victims into posing nude over the Internet, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan informed the public today.

Thomas Hutchinson, 21, of Tewksbury, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn in two cases in which he was charged with rape of a child by force, rape, assault with intent to rape a child, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 (2 counts), indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 (2 counts), attempted extortion (4 counts), child enticement, possession of child pornography (17 counts), posing a child in a state of sexual conduct (10 counts), posing a child in a state of nudity (10 counts), dissemination of visual matter of a child in sexual conduct (3 counts), dissemination of visual matter of a child in a state of nudity, dissemination of matter harmful to a minor (2 counts), and carrying a dangerous weapon. 

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Edward Leibensperger sentenced the defendant to 10-15 years in prison with 15 years probation to follow.  While on probation, the defendant is ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with any of the victims, no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18, to comply with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registry, to undergo sex offender treatment, to refrain from certain use of the internet or any computers or smart phones, and to comply with GPS monitoring.

“This defendant, hiding behind the anonymity of the Internet, gained access to and exploited unwitting young people,” District Attorney Ryan said.  “Not satisfied with only deceiving and manipulating these victims online, he then tried to extort some of them with threats of disclosing their activities online and assaulted others when he forced them to meet with him in person.  This case is a stark reminder of the potential dangers of predators who manipulate the relative freedom of the internet for their own ends.  As adults we have to be mindful and vigilant about the people we interact with online and especially so when it comes to our children.”

The defendant’s activities came to the attention of authorities in early 2011.  Around that time, a then 15-year-old girl using the website MyYearbook.com had online contact with a person, later identified to be the defendant.  The defendant, posing as a girl named “Brittany” offered to introduce the victim online to a person with knowledge of the modeling business.  Shortly thereafter, the defendant contacted her as the modeling representative, now using the screen name Sexybeast5655@aim.com.  Initially, the defendant requested pictures of the victim in a bathing suit and then eventually asked for naked pictures and videos.  Once the victim complied, the defendant threatened to post those images and videos if she didn’t have sex with his “friend.”  He then threatened to rape her if she refused to meet his friend in person or if she told police.  The defendant contacted the victim online posing as the friend, “Tommy,” using the screen name Tommy364587@aim.comand arranged to meet her in person and, again, threatened to harm her if she did not complete a sex act.  On February 28, 2011, the defendant, posing as “Tommy,” drove to the victim’s neighborhood, made her get in his car and forced her to perform a sex act.

When authorities became involved, they immediately launched an investigation and, in May 2011, Medford and Tewksbury Police executed search warrants at the defendant’s home and on his car.  Upon searching his computer, they found numerous photos and videos which were pornographic in nature, depicting dozens of children - mainly female - who appeared to be under the age of 18.  Authorities were able to identify seventeen additional victims who were depicted on those videos.  Investigators also discovered tens of thousands of entries in Skype log files, showing hundreds of chat conversations, incoming and outgoing calls, and file transfers between dozens of potential victims and the defendant.

Through their investigation, authorities learned that the defendant contacted the victims online, usually through MyYearbook.com or Facebook.com, and identified himself as a female named “Brittany.” Many victims were approached by “Brittany” to communicate online, through internet chat and over webcam, and encouraged to send “her” naked pictures or to perform sexual acts on camera.  “Brittany” would then introduce victims online to another fictitious person named “steve.modeling,” who also directed the victims to send him naked pictures and perform sexual acts on camera as part of what he claimed was an audition for modeling jobs.  “Brittany” and “Steve” would sometimes offer the girls money to engage in sexual acts with others. 

The defendant also posed as “Sean Mullen” and “Jess Adams” and offered to put the victims in touch with “steve.modeling” and requested naked pictures and asked them to perform sexual acts on camera. He also presented himself as the “friend” “Tom” or “Tommy.” 

In some instances, the defendant would tell the victims that he had recorded their actions on webcam, and threatened to post or publish those videos or pictures publicly if they did not comply with more of his demands.  In several instances, as a result of those threats, victims agreed to meet the defendant and were then sexually assaulted by him.

The defendant was arrested on July 8, 2011 following the initial investigation and was subsequently indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury on October 18, 2011.  He was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on December 8, 2011 where Judge Leila Kern ordered the defendant held on $5,000 cash bail with the conditions that he remain on GPS monitoring with a curfew, abide by all restraining orders, have no direct or indirect contact with the victim and any witnesses in the case, not use computers or any device which has the ability to connect to the internet, surrender his passport and not leave the Commonwealth, have no unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 18, including online contact, and report to probation once a week.

Following arraignment on charges related to that initial investigation, authorities identified other victims depicted in videos found on the defendant’s computer.  The defendant was subsequently indicted on 46 additional counts on March 29, 2012.

This case was investigated by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Medford Police Department, the Bedford Police Department, and the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, with assistance from numerous other law enforcement agencies including the Marblehead, Reading, Tewksbury, Wilmington, and Millis Police Departments, and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.

The Assistant District Attorney assigned to the case is Elissa Torto.  The Victim Witness Advocate is Susie Marshall.  The paralegal is Erika Willey.  The Child Interview Specialists are Margaret Leavitt, Katie Nugent, and Alicia Compitello.