A former employee of the Boys & Girls Club of Plymouth who was out on bail awaiting trial on charges he touched and photographed a half-nude seven-year-old camper was arrested again Tuesday on unrelated child pornography charges.
Bradley Collins, 21, of East Bridgewater, was ordered held without bail at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility after being arrested by East Bridgewater police.
According to East Bridgewater Chief Michael Jenkins, Collins was arrested after police received a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which monitors online child sexual abuse.
The police conducted an “extensive and thorough investigation” which included searches of two electronic devices at Collins’ home, Jenkins said in a news release.
Collins was arraigned in Brockton District Court Tuesday on two counts of possessing child pornography and distributing material showing a child in a sex act.
Judge Mark Fabiano revoked his bail on the Plymouth case and set $25,000 bail and conditions of release for the new arrest. Collins is due back in court July 22 for a probable cause hearing.
The new arrest was first reported by the Brockton Enterprise, which detailed how a tip led to the new arrest.
The paper said Google filed reports with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in May after finding possible child sexual abuse material had been uploaded to a Google Drive account later identified as belonging to Collins.
The tip was forwarded to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and then to the East Bridgewater Police Department, which opened an investigation into Collins, police said.
“Cases involving the exploitation of children are among the most disturbing crimes our investigators encounter,” said Chief Jenkins.
“We appreciate the assistance of our law enforcement partners, including Massachusetts State Police. We are committed to working with them to identify offenders, protect children and hold those responsible fully accountable.”
Collins was indicted by a Plymouth County grand jury in January, months after a young boy confided in his mother how his “best buddy” had taken photos of him with his shorts down, according to Plymouth police reports.
As the Independent reported at the time, the boy told police Collins touched his “privates” four times, police alleged at the time.
On Jan. 14, Collins pleaded not guilty in Plymouth Superior Court to charges of indecent assault and battery on a child, enticing a child, posing a child in the nude and possession of child pornography.
He was released on $15,000 cash bail and ordered to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet. Plymouth Superior Court judge, Daniel J. O’Shea, also ordered Collins to stay away from the alleged victim and the Boys & Girls Club.
When he was first charged last summer, Collins was placed on administrative leave without pay. He was terminated a day later, according to Garreth Lynch, then the Boys & Girls Club’s executive director.
The child’s mother knew something was wrong when she picked up her son the afternoon of Aug. 11, according to police reports.
He was afraid to say what was bothering him — he’d been warned “not to tell his mommy or daddy what happened,” Plymouth police reported.
But the child eventually told his mother, and later the police, Collins had taken photos of him with his shorts down, according to Plymouth police reports.
Later, in an interview conducted by a special sex abuse expert working for Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz, the boy said the alleged abuse went further — that the adult had actually touched his “privates” four times, according to police reports.
Collins, then a hall monitor and art teacher, denied doing anything wrong, police wrote.
When Plymouth police interviewed him, Collins initially said he brought the child into a private room to look at a rash. He denied taking any photos, according to police.
He agreed to a search of his phone but when police informed him they could recover deleted photos, he changed his story and said he did pull the boy’s shorts down but only to check for the rash, police reported.
He admitted he accidentally took two photos — but only to show the staff the rash, the police reports said.
Collins started as a volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club in October 2023 and did such a good job, he was offered a staff position a year later, Christine Murray, a club official told the Independent in September.
She said he worked mostly as a hall monitor but would often help in art classes.
In the interview with sex abuse expert Courtney Wills, of the Plymouth County DA’s office, the boy said the abuse started after he asked Collins for a series of his cartoon drawings he thought were “cool,” police reported.
He agreed not to tell his parents anything because he really wanted the drawings, he told Wills.
In his interview with wills, the boy asked whether Collins would be going to jail since it would make him sad, “because he was my best buddy.”
Collins’ lawyers, Frank Spillane and Elizabeth Sousa, could not be reached for comment.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org