Northeastern University Admissions Counselor Faces Child Porn Charges

BOSTON, MA — A Dorchester man who works as an admissions counselor at Northeastern University was arrested Tuesday and charged with receiving and possessing child pornography through Zoom chat rooms, officials said.

Beau Christopher Benson, 35, is accused of recording his participation in chat rooms used to view and share child sexual abuse photos and images and saving more than a dozen files to his Dropbox account, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts.

Earlier this year, a cyber tip identified Benson as the user who uploaded these files—which contained images of children who appear to be between two and four years old—to a Dropbox account, officials said.

The files also included conversations between Benson and others in the chat rooms about the pornographic material, according to officials.

The charge of receipt of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, officials said. One charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Following an initial appearance in federal court Tuesday, Benson was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

No additional information was immediately available.