Professor arrested in Tremonton after police say he was in possession of child sexual abuse images

SALT LAKE CITY – A BYU-Idaho adjunct professor was arrested in Tremonton Sunday after deputies said he had numerous child sexual abuse images on his devices. Collin James Hawkins, 27, was arrested on 20 second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child, according to an affidavit of probable cause. "I believe this is a generously underestimated amount," investigators said, regarding the amount of child sexual abuse materials downloaded to Hawkins' devices. On Wednesday, BYU-Idaho confirmed he was formerly employed at the university. According to his faculty description, Hawkins was a seasonal professor for the Department of Languages and International Studies, where he taught Russian. His faculty bio also said he worked as an English teacher in Russia and founded the companies Ready Set Go Russian and YearSphere, LLC.

CSAM investigation

According to police documents, social media and messaging platform Kik reported illegal content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Nov. 11, 2024. The case was reportedly assigned to the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children task force, which, using administrative subpoenas to Verizon, discovered the suspect's name and address in Tremonton. Then, the Box Elder County Sheriff's Office was assigned the CyberTip in early January and confirmed some images to be child sex abuse material, police said. Deputies said over several weeks, further evidence of CSAM was collected from the account, as additional cybertips were reported by Kik from accounts with similar usernames and IP addresses. The Box Elder County Sheriff's Office said it obtained tracking warrants to identify the location of Hawkins and his "primary device." Deputies said they discovered Hawkins also "held a position of trust and was employed at an out-of-state university as a professor." Additionally, while conducting surveillance, officers said they discovered children lived at or frequented the same residence that Hawkins did.

Hawkins arrested

On Sunday, deputies obtained a residential search warrant and served it at approximately 6:15 p.m. Hawkins was arrested and taken in for questioning, where he was interviewed privately upon request, police said. Investigators told Hawkins they had evidence of CSAM, and "asked if that was surprising to him," deputies said, "and he said that it was not." Post-Miranda, Hawkins reportedly remained silent and asked for an attorney. Police said there were two phones taken during the search, and a video containing CSAM was discovered in a trash folder on his primary phone. On Hawkins' second phone, which he said was his old phone, police located a hidden folder which contained multiple photos and videos of CSAM, "the ages ranging from childhood to late teens." Deputies said there was substantial evidence to support the charges and said Hawkins would be a substantial danger to the community. Police noted he was likely to flee if the court released him on bail, as he frequently travels between two states and has a home in another state. Hawkins' online profiles showed he lived in Rexburg, Idaho, while other posts suggested he had been working periodically in Tremonton. "Further, there are minor children present at the home in which he believes he would stay for supervision," police said.

Contributing: Mary Culbertson, KSL TV

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