Child rape suspect held on $5G bail

LYNN – A 23-year-old man charged with rape of a child by force was arraigned in Lynn District Court Tuesday and was held on $5,000 cash bail.Judge Albert Conlon ordered the suspect, Pascal Bum, 23, of 26 Hanover St., Apt. 1, to stay away from the victim – and to have no contact with any child under the age of 16 – during a probable cause hearing.Bum is also ordered to surrender his passport. He is to return to court Aug. 4 for another probable cause hearing.The offense occurred last Dec. 2, but wasn?t reported to police until April 26.According to Officer Ryan Dulong, the female victim, 7, said when she put on her pajamas, Bum touched her inappropriately.Bum recently arrived to the U.S. from Cameroon, and the victim?s family took him in, providing shelter, clothing and help with a job. His job was to babysit the children for several hours at a time during a two-month period.Police conducted an interview with Bum May 15 at 10 a.m., and Bum declined having any type of sexual conduct or being alone with the child in the home. He denied babysitting and admitted that he went to the house for an hour to help teach them.Police also took pictures of the home, including the living room, kitchen area and computer room. Those pictures will be placed into evidence, police said.Officer Roger Tinkham also conducted an investigation.Tinkham said the victim told her family when she was putting on a bathing suit to go to CoCo Key Water Park for the day, she whispered something to her mom and then said the allegation aloud so that everyone could hear.