A former employee of the Boys & Girls Club of Plymouth has been indicted on four felony charges after being accused of touching and photographing a partially-nude 7-year-old boy.
Bradley Collins, 21, of East Bridgewater, was first arraigned in Plymouth District Court in September after a camper told his mother his “best buddy” had taken photos of him with his shorts down, according to Plymouth police reports.
The boy later told police Collins touched his “privates” four times, police alleged at the time.
On Jan. 14, Collins appeared in Plymouth Superior Court and pleaded not guilty to charges of indecent assault and battery on a child, enticing a child, posing a child in the nude and possession of child pornography.
If convicted, Bradley could face substantial prison time.
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.
He is due back in court March 30.
His lawyer, Frank Spillane, did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
When he was charged, Collins was placed on administrative leave without pay. He was fired a day later, according to Garreth Lynch, the Boys & Girls Club’s executive director. The backgrounds of all employees, board members, and volunteers are checked annually, Lynch said, including through criminal, sex offender and Mass Department of Children & Families record checks before any employee or volunteer is cleared to work at the club.
The child’s mother reported picking up her son from the club the afternoon of Aug. 11, and immediately sensing something was wrong. At first, the child was afraid to say what was bothering him, according to Plymouth police. The boy was allegedly warned “not to tell his mommy or daddy what happened,” police reported.
But the child eventually told his mother, and later the police, how 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 — the adult had touched his genitals 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 let police search 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 to check for the rash, police reported. He also acknowledged he took two photos, but only to show the rash to other staff. The boy’s parents told police the rash never existed, authorities 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.
The boy asked his interviewer whether Collins would be going to jail and said it would make him sad “because he was my best buddy.”
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.