BOSTON -- A Winchester middle school teacher's aide was indicted Thursday on child rape, child enticement and child pornography charges in connection with alleged crimes against six underage female victims, according to Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.

Teacher's Aide Indicted On Child Rape, Porn Charges

Christopher French, 28, was indicted on charges of child rape, child enticement, posing a child in a state of nudity, disseminating visual material of a child in a state of nudity, possession of child pornography and dissemination of matter harmful to minors.

"These are troubling allegations against a man who abused his position as a trusted mentor to many of these young victims," Leone said. "We allege that he engaged in a pattern of grooming these young, impressionable girls through a series of inappropriate online conversations on Web sites such as Facebook and Myspace. The defendant then took those conversations further by exchanging sexually explicit photos, enticing the underage girls to meet him for sexual relations, and, in one case, committing child rape against a 14-year-old girl."

French was a special education teacher's aide at the McCall Middle School in Winchester. He had teaching responsibilities and also coached soccer. Prior to his fulltime employment as a teacher's aide, he worked as a substitute teacher at the school beginning in the early 2000s.

On June 28, Winchester police executed a search warrant at the defendant's residence in Winchester, seizing computer equipment from the residence and from the defendant's room. The police investigation -- including the forensic analysis of the defendant's seized computer equipment -- revealed that throughout the years the defendant was employed at the McCall Middle School, he communicated with many underage females, some of whom had been students at McCall Middle School and some of whom he met online through social networking sites, officials allege.

He allegedly gave naked pictures of himself to many of them, requested and received naked pictures of some of the young females in return and enticed two of them to meet with him in person for sexual activity.

It is alleged that he committed child rape against one victim. The pictures the defendant sent of himself, the pictures he requested and received from his targets and many of the communications he had with his targets were stored in his computer, cataloged by names.

In one instance, a 14-year-old female victim was in ninth grade. The prior school year, she had attended McCall Middle School and knew the defendant as a teacher's aide at the school. French allegedly contacted the victim on her Myspace page, and they began instant messaging. After a period of time, he began inviting the victim to go into his hot tub. The victim declined to do this. Then, the defendant began to suggest that he could come to her house.

One night, when the victim was 14, she agreed to have the defendant over to her house. It was in the basement of the house that it is alleged that the child rape occurred. The defendant warned the victim not to tell her friends or family. The defendant is charged with child rape and enticement in connection with this victim.

In another instance beginning in April 2008, French is alleged to have initiated contact with a 13-year-old female who attended the school. The online conversations occurred on his Myspace page, and he used online names such as "Frenchy" or "Frenchy 1024." In June, the conversations became more overtly sexual, with French allegedly indicating that the victim could be invited to his hot tub, emphasizing that "naughty things" happen in the hot tub.

He is also accused of sending the victim a "questionnaire" asking her various sexually explicit questions. He allegedly arranged to meet the victim at various times in the woods near his house, with the victim understanding that the purpose of the meeting was "to fool around." The meetings did not occur for various reasons, but the online conversations continued with the defendant again engaging in conversations of a sexual nature, officials said. The defendant is charged with child enticement in connection with this victim.

French was arrested on June 28 on one charge of child enticement in connection with one victim. He was arraigned in Woburn District Court and Judge Geoffrey C. Packard ordered bail set at $5,000 with conditions including no contact with the victim and no contact with children under age 16.

French posted bail at that time and was suspended without pay by the school at the time of his arrest.