Social Worker Charged With Human Trafficking Held On $100,000 Bail

WOBURN (CBS) -- A social worker facing several charges, including human trafficking, was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail during his arraignment in Woburn District Court on Thursday.

Rick Hall, 34, of Wakefield, has been charged with human trafficking of a child under 18 years of age, enticement of a child by electronic communication, posing a child in a state of nudity and possession of child pornography.

A judge ordered Hall to have no contact with the victims or anyone under the age of 18, and prohibited him from using a computer or smart phone to access the Internet. He also has to turn over his passport.

In August, Reading police began investigating Hall after he allegedly started communicating electronically with three 15-year-old girls. He is accused of enticing the out-of-state girls to swap pornographic images of themselves for compensation.

Hall, owner of North Shore Recovery Management in Reading, has had his professional license suspended pending an investigation and a hearing, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. He is scheduled to appear again in court on Nov. 5.

Reading and Wakefield police, the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, Middlesex County District Attorney's Office and the Josephine County District Attorney's Office in Oregon are investigating the case.