Woburn Boys & Girls Club is ‘Shocked and Saddened’ by Former Employee’s Indictment

The Woburn Boys & Girls Club released a statement over the weekend saying it is “shocked and saddened” by a former employee’s indictment on child rape charges.

In a statement printed by The Boston Globe, the club said,

“We are shocked and saddened by the allegations and our thoughts are with the victim and her family at this time. The safety and protection of the children we serve is the number one priority of the Boys & Girls Club.”

Read the full Boston Globe article. 

Background

Former Boys & Girls Club employee Christopher Elwell, 33, of Woburn, was indicted by a Middlesex County jury on Friday on rape of a child (three counts), indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, dissemination of matter harmful to a minor and posting a child in a state of nudity. The charges date back to 2000. 

The Middlesex District Attorney’s office, the Woburn Police Department and the Boys & Girls Club management began an investigation into the charges in late 2012. They reportedly found that Elwell was a Junior Director of Physical Education in 1999 when he met the victim, who was 12 at the time.

Elwell reportedly later started having conversations with her about sex.

“Over the next three years, through the Fall of 2003, the defendant allegedly instructed the victim to engage in an inappropriate sexual relationship with him, both at the club and at the defendant’s home," according to the Middlesex District Attorney's office.

“It is alleged that during this time period the defendant showed the victim pornography, as well as videos of himself without clothing and encouraged her to take pictures of herself without clothing for him."