Dubbed “the underwear measurer,” Ben Hawkins pleaded guilty today to fooling parents into letting him be alone with their children so he could ogle and touch them, often in just their underwear.
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Hawkins, 44, of Springfield Township, pleaded guilty to 12 of the 19 counts against him. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 44 years when he is sentenced Jan. 29 by Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman.
Hawkins’ original charges included sexual touching and kidnapping involving 11 victims ranging in age from 9 to 16.
Hawkins convinced parents to bring their children to him so he could measure their underwear as part of market research. In reality, authorities said, he used those incidents to fuel his sexual fantasies.
“There were no pictures, no cameras. It was all measuring, so to speak,” assistant prosecutor Kevin Hardman said.
After one incident, police confiscated 21 computers from Hawkins’ home and told him to stop. But Hawkins used spare parts to rebuild another computer and got online again to find subjects.
Hawkins was arrested by St. Bernard police because some of the activity he admitted to today took place at Roger Bacon High, Hawkins’ alma mater, when Hawkins was at the school participating in the alumni band.
Springdale police were contacted by a family complaining of Hawkins’ research. A sting was set up where Hawkins met the family at a Mount Airy hospital – where he had been treated for a medical condition – and tried to do the same thing.
Hawkins was a registered sex offender following two previous convictions. In one, he took photos of a minor while on the University of Cincinnati campus. In the other, he left notes for an underage retail worker, asking if he could take naked pictures of her.
At Hawkins’ sentencing, his attorney Scott Rubenstein will call an expert witness who will testify about the kind of sex offender treatment Hawkins will need in prison.
"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte
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