CINCINNATI (AP) — A man accused of conning parents into allowing him to be alone with their children to conduct a “marketing survey” of underwear was indicted Monday on 19 criminal counts involving 11 minors.
Ben Hawkins, 44, of suburban Cincinnati was indicted on charges including kidnapping, gross sexual imposition and attempted gross sexual imposition.
He contacted parents by taking out ads in an alternative newspaper and online and by responding to ads for in-home child care, investigators said.
He would meet the families at public places such as schools and hospitals or at the children’s homes, then he would tell parents he needed to be alone with the children for research, prosecutors said.
Police said Hawkins told the children he wanted to measure their underwear and then touched them sexually.
The scam was perpetrated on boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 16 over a five-month period starting in March, prosecutors said.
Man, that is just some freaky shit…
