Athol man charged with child rape

ATHOL, Mass. (WWLP) - An Athol man is being held on $250,000 bail after being charged with raping a two-year old girl he was in charge of watching.

Twenty-two year-old Christopher Mundell is accused of raping the toddler and slashing her in the thigh with a steak knife.

Mundell was trusted to care for the toddler by her mother, who Mundell is romantically involved with, according to friends.

Athol Police Chief Timothy Anderson told 22News that the toddler's mother discovered Mundell sleeping and covered in blood when she returned home early Monday morning.

When she checked on her child, she found the girl with slashes on her thigh and called 911.

The rape was later discovered at the hospital.

Mundell was arrested a short time later.

Savannah Laroche was a friend of both Mundell and the toddler's mother. She said that she couldn't believe that Mundell could do something like this, especially since he has a three-year old daughter.

"I would have trusted him with my child previous to this. You don't know anybody like you think you do," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.