17 More Victims Of Alleged Serial Cyber Predator Identified

The case against Thomas Hutchinson of Tewksbury continues to grow and become more sordid.

Investigators have identified at least 17 additional victims of the alleged pedophile and serial rapist.

, who was coerced into sending Hutchinson nude photos, which were used to blackmail her into having sex with him, prosecutors said.

Hutchinson, 19, was arraigned Friday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on charges of rape, attempted extortion (3 counts), indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 (2 counts), indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, posing a child in a state of sexual conduct (9 counts), posing a child in a state of nudity (9 counts), possession of child pornography (15 counts), dissemination of visual matter of a child in sexual conduct (3 counts), dissemination of visual matter of a child in a state of nudity, and dissemination of matter harmful to a minor (2 counts).

According to information released by the office of District Attorney Gerry Leone, prosecutors allege Hutchinson used multiple false identities, both male and female, on the Internet, to trick underage girls into posing naked and sending him naked photos and videos of themselves. He then allegedly threatened to post the images and videos online if the girls did not agree to meet in person and perform sex acts.

According to an article that appeared in the Lowell Sun, Hutchinson's victims ranged in age from 10 to 18, including one person with disabilities and some that Hutchinson knew personally and had rejected him in high school.

In July, , assault with intent 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. In that case the victim is a  15-year-old Medford girl.

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Mitchell Kaplan ordered the defendant held on $3,000 cash bail on the new charges, which predate the original arrest, according to Leone.

In addition to the additional bail, Hutchinson was released with the conditions that he not have any direct or indirect contact with any of the victims, no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18, not use the internet or any computers or smart phones, remain on a GPS ankle monitor with a curfew, surrender his passport, not leave Massachusetts and report to the Probation Department once per week.

His next court date is April 25 for a pre-trial conference.

Acting on information provided by the original victim, Medford and Tewksbury Police executed search warrants on Hutchinson's home and car. Searching his computer, investigators uncovered a large amount of additional evidence,  including numerous saved photos and videos, most of which were pornographic. The photos were of numerous young women and girls, most of whom looked to be under 18.

According to Leone, investigators have been able to identify 17 of the additional victims whose images were allegedly on Hutchinson's computer. Investigators also discovered tens of thousands of entries in Skype log files, showing hundreds of chat conversations, incoming and outgoing calls, and file transfers between dozens of potential victims and Hutchinson.

According to Leone, Hutchinson allegedly met his victims online, usually through myYearbook.com or Facebook.com, and often identified himself as a female named “Brittany.” Victims were often encouraged by “Brittany” to chat online or via webcam and were later asked to show themselves naked or asked to perform sexual acts on camera.

In a press release, Leone said that “Brittany” commonly introduced victims to another person online named “steve.modeling,” who also told the victims to send naked pictures of themselves and perform sexual acts on camera as part of what he claimed was an audition for modeling jobs. Prosecutors allege Hutchinson was both "Brittany" and "steve.modeling."

Other personas allegedly used by Hutchinson included "Jess Adams," "Sean Mullen," "Sexybeast5655@aim.com," and “Tommy,” who used the screen name Tommy364587@aim.com."

In some cases, one of the personas would threaten to post the images and videos online or even rape the victims if they did not agree to meet their friend "Tommy" and engage in sex acts with him. Leone said that as a result of those threats, some of the victims met the defendant and were allegedly sexually assaulted by him.

During the investigation, all of the victims reported that they were never able to see the person on the other side of the webcam conversation, according to Leone.

Investigators are continuing their attempts to identify additional victims seen in videos found on Hutchinson's computer. If you think you may have been a victim of the defendant, or know someone who may have been victimized by the defendant, you are asked to call the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office at 781-897-6600.