Alleged Cyber Predator Who Threatened Teen Into Sex Indicted

A man who allegedly blackmailed a 15-year-old Medford girl into having sex with him was indicted on nine charges Tuesday, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney's office.

Thomas Hutchinson, 19, of Tewksbury, was indicted yesterday by a Middlesex grand jury on charges of rape of a child by force, assault to rape a child, child enticement, attempted extortion, indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, possession of child pornography, and posing a child in states of nudity and sexual conduct.  

Hutchinson was arrested on July 8; A search of his 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.

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.