Groveland Library Trustee Charged With Child Rape

GROVELAND, MA —A Groveland man was arrested Thursday night and charged with multiple counts of child rape. He is being held without bail, after an arraignment in Haverhill District Court Friday. According to Essex District Attorney Spokeswoman Carrie Kimball, Christopher Shramko, 52, pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape of a child of force and one count of child rape aggravated by age difference.

District Court Judge Patricia Dowling ordered Shramko held without bail, pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for November 7th. Shramko was also ordered to stay away from and have no contact with police, according to Kimball.

Shramko was arrested at his home by Groveland Police, Kimball said. Police were contacted by a mandated reporter to whom the victim disclosed the allegations.

"The victim, who is known to the defendant, alleges that the defendant raped her multiple times on one date several years ago," according to the press release.

No other information about the victim or the police reports are available, in order to protect the victim's identity and the "integrity of the investigation."

“While these allegations are deeply troubling, we do not believe that there was a threat to the public at large,” Groveland Police Chief Jeff Gillen said in a statement.

Shramko is the vice chair of Groveland's Langley Adams Library Board of Trustees, as first reported by Boston 25 News. A representative of the library said she was unable to comment. According to his LinkedIn, Shramko is also a Boy Scout chaplain, a religious educator, and a former Girl Scout assistant troop leader.