Arrest warrant issued for Hawaii man accused of virtually sexually abusing two children | Local

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — A warrant has been issued for a Hawaii man on suspicion of sexually abusing two Springfield children while he was supposed to be giving online piano lessons to them, according to Lane County District Court documents.

According to court records, an arrest warrant was issued for Benjamin Victor Houghton on June 20. Springfield police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating Houghton in January 2023 when a video surfaced online showing two children performing sexual acts on each other in a Springfield apartment, court records say. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the video appeared to be shot remotely, with someone on the other side of the camera instructing the children on what to do. The video was then uploaded to the dark web, and Houghton allegedly bragged in online posts about sexually abusing the two children, the affidavit says. According to court records, after the children were identified, they were interviewed and told authorities they had taken piano lessons from Houghton online. When Houghton was later questioned by authorities, he admitted to orchestrating the sexual abuse virtually from Hawaii and also said he sexually abused the children in person at least twice when he visited the Springfield apartment and recorded it, court documents say. The affidavit says Houghton showed investigators the recordings on his phone.

According to court records, Houghton is wanted on charges of first-degree sodomy and three counts of use of a child in a sexually explicit exhibition.

Chelsea Deffenbacher joined KEZI 9 News as a morning news anchor and reporter in January 2024. If you have a story idea for Chelsea, you can email her at: [email protected].