A 31-year-old hockey coach from Marblehead has been indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury on a charge of indecent assault and battery on a male child, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office announced on Tuesday.
Christopher Prew, of Marblehead, was indicted on one count of indecent assault and battery. The child is known to Prew through his position as a hockey coach, the DA’s office said.
The alleged conduct occurred on multiple occasions in the victim’s Newton home and began in 2015. Prew is scheduled to be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on Friday.
He is already facing similar charges out of Essex County for allegedly indecently assaulting several male children.
In Essex County, Prew is accused of raping a 9-year-old boy and is also charged with sexually assaulting two other children. In total, he has been accused of sexually assaulting eight children, all young boys, including the child from Middlesex County.
He was indicted by an Essex County grand jury two weeks ago on charges of aggravated rape of a child and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, which stem from the accusations from the first child.
The boy told his mother, who had been in a relationship with Prew, which initiated the investigation. Prew is accused of indecently assaulting and orally raping the boy on various dates since last fall.
Prew is also facing three more indecent assault and battery on a child charges, involving two additional children, both 9-year-old boys.
The eight children who have leveled accusations against Prew were participating in the hockey program with him. He is not affiliated with the Marblehead Hockey Association, but provides private and group hockey sessions in the area.
Prew is charged with assaulting three boys from Marblehead in Essex County and is charged with assaulting the boy in Middlesex County. Of the uncharged incidents, which are under investigation in Essex County, one child is a Canadian exchange student, but the incident happened in Marblehead, one boy is from Marblehead, but the incident happened out of state at a hockey tournament and two are Marblehead brothers, with the incident occurring in Marblehead, prosecutors said.
Prew was arraigned in Salem Superior Court on Tuesday on his original charges of aggravated rape and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. He continues to be held without bail and is scheduled to appear in Salem Superior Court for a dangerousness hearing on Thursday for the charges involving the first child in Essex County, prosecutors said.
Prew has not been indicted on the charges out of Essex County involving the two other children, and he has not been formally charged with assaulting the four other children in the county who have accused him, prosecutors said.
