DA: Cyber Predator Threatened Medford Teen Into Sex, More Victims Likely

A 15-year-old Medford girl was blackmailed into having sex with a man she met on the internet, and investigators believe she may not be the only victim, prosecutors said.

Thomas Hutchinson, 19, of Tewksbury faces charges of child rape, child enticement, extortion by threat of injury, threats, and posing a child in a state of nudity.

A search of Hutchinson's home computer turned up dozens of photos, videos and online chats with girls believed to be under 18, prosecutors said.

Hutchinson allegedly connected with the victim through the website MyYearbook.com, an online dating and social networking site, according to a press release from District Attorney Gerry Leone.

Using three different aliases, Hutchinson coerced the victim to send him nude photos, then used them to blackmail her into having sex with him, prosecutors said.

First, the victim met someone on the site named "Brittney," who offered to connect her to someone in the modeling industry. 

Hutchinson used sent messages to the victim from Sexybeast5655@aim.com, claiming to be in the modeling industry and at first asked her to him photos of her in a bathing suit and clothes, prosecutors said. Hutchinson allegedly eventually coaxed the victim to send him naked pictures and videos.

He then threatened to post the videos and images online if the victim didn't have sex with a "friend" of his, prosecutors said. He told her if she didn't agree to have sex with his friend, he would rape her, prosecutors said.

Hutchinson allegedly used a third handle, Tommy364587@aim.com, to arrange to meet the victim. He picked her up at her Medford home and allegedly forced her to perform a sex act on him in his car.

Somerville District Court Judge Neil Walker set Hutchinson's bail at $2,500, with the conditions that the defendant remain under house arrest and on GPS monitoring if he posts bail, have no contact with the victim, victim’s family, or any witnesses, no use of computers or the Internet, have no unsupervised contact with children, and he can't leave the state.

His next court date is August 23 for a probable cause hearing.

Investigators believe there may be more victims, Leone said in a statement.

“There exists evidence that leads us to believe that there may be additional victims of his predatory intentions who have not yet come forward,” said Leone in a statement.  “We continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute serious crimes committed by offenders that target vulnerable children through the internet, as we allege is the case here.”

When Medford police searched Hutchinson's computer, they found saved photos and videos, and chats with "dozens of females, many of whom appeared to be under the age of 18."  The computer also contained numerous images and videos of child pornography, according to Leone.

The investigation into the identities and exact ages of the girls is ongoing, Leone said.