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Teacher's Aide Arraigned On Child Sex Charges

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Nov 5, 2008 4:34 pm US/Eastern

Teacher's Aide Arraigned On Child Sex Charges

WINCHESTER (WBZ) ― A McCall Middle School teacher's aide and coach accused of sex crimes against six teenage girls was arraigned Wednesday on child rape, child enticement and child pornography charges.

Prosecutors allege Christopher French used web sites like Myspace and Facebook to lure his victims.

French, 28, was first arrested over the summer on charges related to two victims. That prompted a grand jury investigation. New indictments allege he enticed his victims to engage in sexual activity and exchange naked photos.

 Read: Details of the charges

Christopher French served as a special education teacher's aide and soccer coach at McCall. He is the son of longtime McCall Middle School principal Evander French Jr.

"These are troubling allegations against a man who abused his position as a trusted mentor to many of these young victims," District Attorney Gerry Leone said in a statement Thursday. "We allege that he engaged in a pattern of grooming these young, impressionable girls through a series of inappropriate online conversations on websites 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."

According to prosecutors, some of the victims were students at McCall, others were girls French met online. The allegations cover a period of time beginning in 2005 and ending in the summer of 2008.

Christopher French has been charged with child rape, child enticement, four counts of posing a child in a state of nudity, four counts of disseminating visual material of a child in a state of nudity and four counts of possessing child pornography.

French had been free on bail since his arrest in June, but was ordered held on $25,000 bail at his arraignment.

He has been ordered to have no contact with the alleged victims or any children under 16 years old. He must also stay away from schools and playgrounds and has been placed on an electronic monitoring device and must adhere to a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

He was suspended without pay by the school at the time of his arrest.

His next court date is scheduled for Dec. 4.

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