North Andover High School Wrestling Coach David Castricone, one of the most successful coaches in Massachusetts, has been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography.

Castricone, 60, was arrested last Monday and entered a not guilty plea in Lawrence District Court the following day. He was released on $1,500 bail.

According to the Associated Press, police received a tip the week prior to his arrest, which lead to a search of Castricone’s home.

In the subsequent search of his home, a police report filed in court shows that 77 pages of personal photos of females, who appeared to be unaware of the pictures being taken, were found, along with at least eight child pornography photos and child erotica, according to the Boston Globe.

Citing court documents, The Boston Herald says that Castricone “got nervous” as police searched his attic and eventually waived his rights and told police he had pornography in the attic.

The police report also shows that Castricone was caught entering the girl’s locker room at North Andover High School at least nine times in the past month, staying two to seven minutes each time.  A witness told police she had seen an older man in the locker room on February 7 with his hands inside a locker, which had holes in it, and a black bag next to him. This led to the review of surveillance tapes by administrators, who were able to identify the man as David Castricone.

The report observed that “the holes in the locker door were large enough for a camera to shoot through”, according to the newspaper.

The Globe also reported that he told authorities he went into the girls’ locker room to look for an expensive scale used to weigh competitors in wrestling matches.

Castricone, who owns a roofing and siding business, has coached wrestling in Massachusetts for 38 years, with the last 25 being at North Andover. Over that time, he has amassed a career record of 681-142-3 and two state championships. He was the Boston Globe’s Division 2 wrestling coach of the year in 2010.

The coach has since resigned, citing health and personal reasons.

A pre-trial conference is scheduled for March 30.

Charlie Curley can be reached at [email protected].