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Update: Tuesday August 17, 2021SALEM — A former Massachusetts youth hockey coach is facing 13 to 15 years in state prison after pleading guilty to 16 child sexual assault charges.
Christopher Prew, 34, of Marblehead, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated rape of a child with an age difference greater than 10 years; 14 counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14; and one count of attempted indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14.
Prew's guilty plea came Monday during an appearance in Essex County Superior Court in Salem as jury selection for the trial was set to begin.
Judge James Lang sentenced Prew to 10 years of probation following his prison sentence. While on probation, Prew has been ordered to stay away from and have no contact with the victims, stay out of the town of Marblehead, wear a GPS monitoring device, have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16, not to work or volunteer with anyone under the age of 18, complete a mental health evaluation and any treatment deemed necessary, complete sex offender treatment and register with the Sex Offender Registry Board.
Prew did receive 1,282 days of jail credit during the sentencing.
The families of the victims and Prew's family members declined to speak following the sentencing.
“While I fully understand that nothing can restore what the defendant so callously took from the victims and their families, it is my fervent hope that this plea will make clear that none of this was their fault,” Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a statement. “I commend the boys for their bravery in coming forward and for their willingness to testify at trial.”
Update: Friday November 15, 2019Exactly one week later, and he's back in jail.....
A youth hockey coach awaiting trial on child rape charges was located and arrested Friday morning after failing to turn himself in to a Vermont court on Thursday.
Christopher Prew, 33, of Marblehead, was released on bail earlier this month after he met certain conditions due to rulings by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in two unrelated cases.
He is accused of sexually assaulting eight boys under the age of 14 between 2017 and early 2018 in Massachusetts, along with similar charges in Vermont. He had been held without bail since a court appearance in March of 2018.
The Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section arrested Prew in Winthrop after he failed to turn himself to a court in Vermont.
Vermont State Police reached out to Massachusetts State Police to bring in Prew. They transported him to Essex Superior Court in Salem, where he is set to be arraigned.
Update: Friday November 8, 2019MARBLEHEAD, Mass. - A youth hockey coach accused of sexually assaulting eight boys can no longer be held without bail, the Essex DA's office said.
Christopher Prew, 33, has been indicted for one count of rape of a child, 14 counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and one count of attempted indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.
The eight victims are boys between the ages of seven and 13.
Prew, who was arrested and charged in Feb. 2018 after a 9-year-old victim came forward accusing Prew of indecently assaulting and orally raping him, had been held without bail until now.
Marblehead police said the boy told his mother what happened when she asked why he wanted to stop playing hockey.
Under Massachusetts' dangerousness statute, Prew can no longer be held without bail and was will be released on $15,000 bail if he meets certain conditions. He needs to verify where he is going to live and make sure that there are no minor children and firearms inside the house and he is required to be fitted with a GPS tracking device.
Original Story April 2, 2019A former youth hockey coach who is accused of molesting children in Massachusetts is facing new charges in Vermont.
The Vermont State Police has charged Christopher Prew, 31, of Winthrop, with lewd or lascivious conduct with a child.
A warrant has been issued for Prew's arrest, with $15,000 bail.
Prew was arrested in Massachusetts in February 2018 after he was accused of sexually abusing several young boys he had worked with as a coach.
He has been held without bail since his arrest. Prew is currently incarcerated at the Middleton House of Corrections in Massachusetts.
Original video aired Feb 2018
UPDATE 6/12/2019The mother of a former youth hockey coach charged with molesting boys he was hired to teach will ask a judge next month what sort of sentence she would receive if she pleads guilty to witness intimidation.
Louise Martino, 56, of Winthrop, was charged last year after allegedly sending Facebook messages to the mother of one of her son's accusers, suggesting that she had potentially embarrassing information about the woman.
Her son, Christopher Prew, 32, had been set to stand trial this week, but the trial was postponed after his attorney, Michael Doolin, was nominated for a judgeship. A status hearing is scheduled for June 28, to determine when Prew's new lawyer will be ready to try the case.
Martino and her lawyer, Sean Donahue, were in Salem Superior Court on Tuesday for a hearing to schedule a trial in her case. Donahue instead asked Judge Thomas Drechsler to schedule a lobby conference, a meeting with the judge to discuss a possible resolution of the case short of a trial.
Drechsler scheduled that conference for July 16 at 2 p.m.
Earlier this year, Donahue had argued for dismissal of the charge, saying the grand jury that indicted Martino lacked sufficient evidence to find probable cause for the charge. Judge Salim Tabit denied that motion.
More recently, Donahue filed a motion seeking to suppress evidence in the case, but that was withdrawn when prosecutor Kate MacDougall told the court she did not intend to use the particular evidence Donahue was seeking to suppress, according to the case docket.
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Topic: Massachusetts Youth hockey coach accused of molesting boys facing new charges (Read 26058 times)
