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Ex-Newton teacher charged with assaulting girl he babysat

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Boston Articles
February 09, 2012|By Brian R. Ballou
  • David Ettlinger, 34, a former Newton teacher, was led from a Woburn courtroom after arraignment yesterday on five counts             of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, the third time he had faced such charges
David Ettlinger, 34, a former Newton teacher, was led from a Woburn courtroom… (Josh Reynolds for The Boston…)

WOBURN - Prosecutors told a court yesterday that in a computer folder bearing the name of a girl he was recently hired to baby-sit, David Ettlinger, a former second-grade teacher, kept volumes of pictures and movies, some of which depict him indecently assaulting the girl.

Yesterday’s arraignment marks the third time in the past month that Ettlinger has been charged with sex-related crimes against children under the age of 14. He has pleaded not guilty in each case.

“He is disappointed to hear about these new allegations,’’ said Ettlinger’s lawyer, Tanis M. Yannetti. “However, my client has the full support of his family. . . . We ask you to continue to respect the privacy of my client’s family as they continue to deal with, and process, the allegations.’’

Ettlinger, 34, of Brighton, received high bails in the two previous cases in West Roxbury and Brighton District Courts, and he remains in jail.

In Middlesex Superior Court here yesterday, Ettlinger was charged with five counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

According to the office of Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr., Ettlinger is also charged with posing a child in a state of nudity, posing a child in sexual conduct, possession of child pornography, and secretly recording a partially nude person.

Clerk-magistrate Michael Sullivan ordered Ettlinger held on an additional $50,000 cash bail. The defendant was also ordered to stay away from the victim, her family, and all children under 16.

In court papers, Middlesex prosecutors identified the victim by the pseudonym Jane. The girl’s parents had hired Ettlinger to baby-sit her at their home.

At the time, the defendant was employed as a teacher at Underwood Elementary School in Newton, where he was a longtime second-grade teacher known as Mr. E. The victim, a resident of Middlesex County, was not one of his students.

Ettlinger resigned last week.

After federal agents seized Ettlinger’s computer on Jan. 17 as part of an investigation into his alleged involvement with a global child pornography ring, investigators scoured its hard drive and discovered a folder with the girl’s name on it, according to authorities.

Prosecutors said Ettlinger captured images of himself “indecently assaulting Jane, who was under the age of 14 at the time.’’

It was unclear when the recordings and pictures were taken and what the girl’s exact age was at the time of the alleged assaults, authorities said. Prosecutors allege that Ettlinger assaulted the girl while he was baby-sitting her.

Ettlinger was indicted on the most recent charges Feb. 7 by a Middlesex grand jury.

In a separate case, Ettlinger pleaded not guilty last month 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. He also pleaded not guilty in Brighton District Court to related charges of possession of child pornography.

After his arrest in January, prosecutors said he had an account with Sittercity.com, a listing service for baby sitters.

He has been targeted by federal investigators in Louisiana who say he participated in a global child pornography network through what was known as the Dreamboard website.

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