But a darker picture has emerged.
On Wednesday, Ettlinger pleaded not guilty in West Roxbury District Court to charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and posing a child in a state of nudity, according to the office of Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.
Ettlinger pleaded not guilty Tuesday to related charges of possession of child pornography in Brighton District Court.
Ettlinger was allegedly part of a global child pornography ring called Dreamboard.
He is facing a charge in federal court in Louisiana of participating in a child exploitation enterprise in connection with his Dreamboard activities, according to a spokesman for the district attorney.
Police Captain Paul Anastasia said there is no evidence that Ettlinger harmed any child in Newton.
At last night’s meeting, Michael Jellinek, president of Newton-Wellesley Hospital and chief of child psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, answered questions from distraught parents who wondered how to explain to their children that a man they trusted had allegedly done terrible things to other children.
“It is a real loss,’’ Jellinek said. He advised parents to talk calmly and openly with their children and to let them grieve.
“When something hits like this out of the blue, it makes everyone feel vulnerable,’’ he said.
Kathleen Zimmerman, Underwood’s principal, said that the school is in the process of firing Ettlinger, who has been placed on paid administrative leave.
“Pending a hearing’’ early next month, she said, “he will be terminated.’’
Superintendent David Fleishman said that there will be a community meeting Tuesday at Newton North High School.
“There’s a lot of angst in our other schools,’’ he said. “This will be ongoing.’’
In addition to teaching second grade at Underwood, Ettlinger worked as a camp counselor in the 1990s and rock climbing teacher until about 2008 for Newton’s Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, according to Carol Trager, vice president of strategy and marketing. There have been no allegations of abuse, she said.
Newton parents were shocked by this week’s events.
“I’d seen him around; he seemed like just an average teacher,’’ said Marisa Morrill, who has a child in fifth grade who was not in Ettlinger’s class.
“That’s the scariest part of all,’’ she said. “We never thought that anything would be wrong at Underwood.’’
