Jury selection underway in sex assault case against former Hudson middle school teacher

WOBURN — Jury selection is underway in the trial of a former Hudson teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student more than a decade ago.

Jury selection began Tuesday in the case against Caitlin Harding, the former Hudson school teacher. She faces 10 charges, including aggravated rape of a child; rape of a child with force; and indecent assault of a child.

Harding's attorney, Brad Bailey, previously told WCVB-TV that the allegations are false.

Charges stem from when Harding taught at the now-closed JFK Middle School in Hudson. She is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 13-year-old seventh-grade student multiple times over several months in 2010. Harding was the girl's teacher, and left the school district on her own in 2013 to become a teacher in Needham until 2017.

Earlier: Former Hudson teacher pleads not guilty to charges she raped student

Harding was indicted in 2021, and pleaded not guilty in the Middlesex Superior Court. She was released on her own recognizance, but was ordered to not have unsupervised contact with children younger than 18 and to not work or volunteer with children.

Former student files civil lawsuit against former teacher

The former student, now a grown woman, previously filed a civil lawsuit against Harding in the Norfolk County Superior Court in 2021. The case was then moved to the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts.

In the civil suit, the woman alleges that when she was a student at the middle school, Harding engaged in inappropriate behavior, including showing affection toward her and sharing personal emails.

'Plaintiff has suffered': Civil suit filed against ex-Hudson teacher charged with raping student

During the 2009-10 school year, Harding began giving the student rides to places and exchanged text messages in which she told the girl she "wanted and loved" her, according to the lawsuit.

In 2010, when the woman was 13 years old, Harding "engaged in explicit sexual behavior and lewd and lascivious behavior with the plaintiff," according to court documents. The woman alleges at least 10 incidents that involved activities ranging from kissing to rape.

The civil lawsuit accused the town of Hudson and several now-former Hudson Public Schools officials, but those entities were removed from the lawsuit last year.

The civil case is stayed, or on pause, until the criminal case concludes.

Tuesday's jury selection resulted in the sitting of five jurors, according to court records.

Judge Laurence D. Pierce is presiding over the criminal case.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Former Hudson teacher is currently charged with aggravated rape