Ex-coach pleads guilty, gets 13-15 years in child sexual abuse cases
Aug. 17—MARBLEHEAD — By the time Christopher Prew turned up in Marblehead, in 2016, he was already practiced in manipulating others, Essex County Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall told a judge Monday.
Prew, now 34, had been involved with private youth hockey clubs in the town of Newton. There, according to court filings, he'd befriended hockey families, convincing at least one to let him take their young son to a tournament out of state — where, the boy has since disclosed, Prew sexually abused him, in February 2016.
But back in the spring of 2016, as Prew — who'd dropped out of college and earned money doing odd jobs — was hiring himself out as a private hockey coach and organizing children's parties, that was still a secret.
A judge said that but for the courage of a group of young Marblehead boys, it might still be a secret and that Prew might have moved on to the next town full of pee wee players and trusting parents who wanted only the best for their children.
"He insinuated himself into our lives," said the mother of a young boy, the first of what would ultimately be nine boys — seven from Marblehead, one from Quebec, and the ninth, the Newton boy — to disclose that Prew had been sexually abusing them.
On Monday, Prew, of Winthrop, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated child rape, 14 counts of indecent assault and battery on a child, and one count of attempted indecent assault, involving eight of the boys, who ranged in age from 7 to 13 at the time of his crimes.
His lawyer told the judge Monday that Prew is expected to "accept responsibility" at a future date in the Newton boy's case, which is pending in Middlesex County and in Vermont.
Judge James Lang imposed a sentence of 13 to 15 years in state prison for Prew, to be followed by a total of 10 years of probation. During that time, Prew will be required to wear a GPS ankle bracelet, stay out of the town of Marblehead and away from all of the boys and their families, have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16 and hold no job or volunteer position with anyone under the age of 18.
Lang also ordered that Prew will have to undergo sex offender and mental health evaluations and any treatment deemed necessary and register as a sex offender. He could also face a request by prosecutors at the end of his prison term to have him deemed sexually dangerous and committed to a prison hospital.
Offered a chance to address the court, Prew simply shook his head.
The plea came more than 3 1/2 years after his arrest in February 2018, and on the morning that jury selection was to begin, with a large pool of potential jurors called to the courthouse and all but one of the boys prepared to take the stand.
Lang said Prew "grossly abused his position of trust" among the boys and their families, some of whom had hired Prew to teach their sons hockey and others who encountered Prew during hockey-related events in town.
Lang told the families of the boys, as well as Prew's family, "there is no mitigation."
"Their sense of personal betrayal surely makes these offenses all the more egregious," Lang said.
MacDougall told the judge that Prew had quickly inserted himself into the small community of hockey parents — as he'd also done in Newton prior to that. He'd also briefly worked in a town afterschool program and ran hockey camps.
MacDougall described how Prew began to reach out to certain families, "friending" them on social media and sending messages to parents — mostly single moms or caretakers.
He'd offer to work with the boys on hockey skills, to mentor them in the absence of a father figure. He'd offer to babysit or drive the boys to practices, giving him, said the prosecutor, "unfettered access to these children."
One of the parents let him "rent" a condo she owned — though she told the judge Prew never paid that rent.
MacDougall said it was at the condo, in Old Town, where Prew, in the guise of watching a movie with one boy, put a blanket over both of them, and then proceeded to rape the child. It was among a large number of incidents that occurred while the boy was 9 and 10.
Other victims described to investigators how Prew would also have them come over to the condo or take advantage of moments he was left alone at their homes, or in one case, a Peabody ice rink where Prew reached into the back of one boy's pants.
Another victim, from Quebec, Canada, had been an eager participant in an annual hockey exchange. He was staying in the home of boys who were being coached by Prew. But in 2017, he disclosed, Prew, on the pretext of going to the bedroom to say goodnight, reached under the covers, said the prosecutor.
Both MacDougall, who had asked for a 15- to 18-year prison term, and Lang called the boys "heroic" for their courage in coming forward — especially as some of the boys struggled with conflicting emotions about the man they called "Coach Chris," and some of their parents faced ugly rumors and, at least for a time, disbelief from other hockey parents, said the prosecutor.
"They are remarkable boys," said MacDougall.
The damage wreaked by Prew was still evident, she said. "They all still feel some fondness" for Prew, "and to me, that is the most heartbreaking part of this entire case."
One family was already dealing with heartbreak when Prew reached out to them in the spring of 2016.
"He preyed on a widow and a newly single mom," said the mother of one boy, whose husband, the boy's father, had died suddenly. Prew reached out to her, offering help with the boy.
She responded in kind, letting him rent a condo she owned, recommending him for jobs or to other parents and even giving him money.
Some friends, and even her own mother, had expressed doubts, said the mother in her victim impact statement. She didn't believe them. "We trusted him completely and we were betrayed in the worst way imaginable," she told the judge.
On the day the boy came home from school and told his mother about the abuse, he was "petrified," said the woman. "He thought I would be mad."
A grandmother caring for her young grandson showed the judge a photo of the boy at 8.
"I wanted you to see what a baby he was," she told Lang, a "sweet, gentle 8-year-old who loved his hockey and his dogs."
"I called Christopher Prew the 'boy whisperer,'" said the woman, who originally meant it as a compliment to a "charismatic" young coach. Now, she considers Prew a "manipulator" who has destroyed her ability to trust.
"This isn't something any child should have to deal with in their lifetime," said another mother.
The crimes took their toll on the families in other ways.
The mother of the first boy was targeted directly by Prew's mother, Louise Martino, who later spent time on probation for witness intimidation after admitting she'd sent a Facebook message to the woman telling her she would reveal potentially embarrassing information about her if the case moved forward.
Even on Monday, Martino walked out of the courtroom as MacDougall read the details of the case.
Later, a friend of Prew's family named Mary Gillis was given permission to address the court, where she read a statement telling Prew, "You are loved, today, tomorrow and forever." Gillis read a message from Martino to her son saying, "I wish I'd told you Mommy can't fix everything," and "My love is endless for you."
His stepfather, Robert Martino, was quoted by Gillis saying, "You make me proud to call you son."
Prew's attorney, Kelli Lea Porges, spoke only briefly on Monday, telling Lang that "the love, the loyalty" shown by Prew's family "is nothing short of humbling."
"The way they are with each other is amazing," Porges told the judge.
Porges, who had asked the judge to impose only the minimum mandatory 10 years in prison, said Prew's decision to plead guilty "is remorse."
"If he wasn't committed to redemption and change, we wouldn't be here today," Porges told the judge.
But much of what Porges had to say about Prew took place late Friday afternoon, during a last-minute conference where she first proposed that Prew would consider pleading guilty in exchange for a 10-year prison term. Such "lobby" conferences are most often conducted in open court.
After learning that a Salem News reporter was present for that proceeding, Porges asked for the reporter to be barred from the courtroom. Lang said Monday that he had shared the defense lawyer's concern that a news report on plea negotiations in the case would "taint" the jury pool and make jury selection more difficult if those negotiations failed.
On Monday, Lang lifted an order temporarily sealing the recordings of that discussion, which The Salem News has requested. It was not immediately clear when those recordings, which are processed by a private vendor based in Australia, would be available.
Family members of the boys, who were allowed to remain in the courtroom, suggested Monday that Porges had minimized her client's crimes.
The mother of the first boy told Lang it was "disgusting" to hear Prew's attorney describe the crimes as "non-violent" and for the lawyer to share her "deep care for Prew as a person" during Friday's hearing.
The grandmother of one boy told the judge Monday that it seemed to her Porges had implied "it wasn't that bad."
"I'm here to tell you, it was horrific," she said.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, jmanganis@gloucestertimes.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis.
