Yesterday's bust in Boston sent shockwaves through the community as Beau Christopher Benson, employed as an admissions counselor at Northeastern University, was arrested on the charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. Benson, 35, from Dorchester, could now face the music for his dark online activities after being cuffed by the feds as unveiled by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts.
Making an appearance in Boston's federal court, Benson was ordered detained by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell, pending a detention hearing that is set for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, a person presumed innocent is left in limbo until proven guilty. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in Zoom chat rooms where child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was shared and seemingly enjoyed by him, as per allegations contained in the charging documents.
It is claimed that this Northeastern University counselor recorded these illicit Zoom sessions and even went as far as to store the recordings, which chillingly included conversations about the CSAM and the CSAM itself, on his social media. Investigators uncovered around 15 video files depicting CSAM in his Dropbox, hauntingly featuring children estimated to be as young as two years old.
Benson turned up on the radar after a cybertip flagged him for uploading two files containing CSAM to his Dropbox. This led officials down a digital rabbit hole, ending in discoveries that painted a grim portrait of the depths to which individuals can sink behind the veil of internet anonymity. Benson was subsequently ensnared by Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative fighting against the tidal wave of child exploitation and abuse currently smashing into the digital shores of our society.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, alongside Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Division, announced the troubling find. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of the Office’s Major Crimes Unit has taken up the gauntlet to prosecute the case. Receivership of child pornography carries severe penalties, including mandatory minimum sentences of five years to the possibility of twenty years behind bars, not to mention lasting supervised release, and the charge of possession is no less forgiving with up to a decade in prison.
