Former BYU-I adjunct professor charged in Utah with sexual exploitation of minor
News Team
BOX ELDER COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — 27-year-old Collin James Hawkins of Box Elder County was arrested on Monday, charged with 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Hawkins was previously employed as an adjunct Professor at Brigham Young University–Idaho. In a statement to Local News 8, the school confirmed Hawkins is no longer an employee at the university.
Hawkins is accused of downloading several videos containing child sex material (child pornography), allegedly distributed through the Kik messaging app. Officials at Kik contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the explicit videos used on the account, according to the probable cause statement.
The case was originally assigned to the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children task force, then transferred to Utah after Hawkins’ name and Tremonton address were linked to the Kik account.
During the arrest, Hawkins asked to speak privately with an officer, who informed the 27-year-old of the search warrant and evidence of CSAM. The officer asked Hawkins if that was surprising to him, and according to the probable cause statement, Hawkins said it was not.
The document states that Hawkins’ two phones contained several videos and photos portraying young children and late teens engaging in sexual activity.
Hawkins was booked into the Box Elder County Jail.