Needham teacher accused of uploading child sex abuse videos, posing as teen online

A middle school teacher in Needham, Massachusetts, has been arrested on child pornography charges, accused of uploading scores of videos depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as three.

Michael Ciccolella, an Ashland man who's been suspended from teaching at High Rock Middle School, is also accused of posing as a 13-year-old online, prosecutors said in Framingham District Court Friday, as he was arraigned on charges of possessing child pornography, distributing obscene material and distributing material depicting a nude child.

A not guilty plea was entered on Ciccolella's behalf. Prosecutors had asked for bail of $100,000, and Ciccolella's attorney $5,000, but Judge Michael Callahan set it at $500,000.

"Law enforcement has no reason to believe that any High Rock or Needham Public Schools students were involved or harmed in any way," Superintendent Daniel Gutekanst said in a statement.

Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.

Ashland and state police arrested Ciccolella Thursday night at a home on Spyglass Hill, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Ashland Chief of Police Cara Rossi said. Their investigation remained ongoing as of Friday.

In court, a prosecutor explained that the investigation began with images uploaded to the messaging app Kik "that system that contained sexually explicit material including abuse of children," depicting adults raping children, some in situations involving bondage, between the ages of about 3 and 12.

The device that uploaded the images, 168 videos, was traced to Ciccolella's house. The prosecutor noted that some of the videos have not previously been identified by investigators before, suggesting they "may have been homemade."

Ciccolella shook his head in apparent disbelief and disagreement at that comment.

The teacher also allegedly sent more than 5,000 messages on an app while posing as a 13-year-old who was interested in school, theater and soccer — prosecutors had noted that Ciccolella is also a soccer coach, and said he'd admitted to investigators that he'd posed as a teenager online.

Ciccolella is due back in court on March 27.

After Ciccolella's arrest, Needham schools Superintendent Gutekanst said in a message to the community, the teacher, who's been with the district since 2008, was immediately placed on leave and banned from district property. Counseling will be provided to students and staff and more resources shared with families to help support their kids.

"The safety and wellbeing of our students is always the district's top priority, and we will cooperate with all law enforcement agencies as the investigation continues," he wrote. "Due to the disturbing nature of the charges, we encourage families to speak with their children and reassure them that they are safe at school."

After Friday's hearing, his 19-year-old son Jordan Chicolella, who told reporters he was there to support his family and that his father had never abused him, was asked if he thought his father did what he'd been accused of.

"I'm going to leave that up to the court," he said.