Former Northeastern admissions councilor gets 5 years on child porn charges

A Dorchester man who worked as an admissions counselor at Northeastern University has been sentenced to five years in prison for possessing child pornography.

Beau Christopher Benson, 36, was sentenced Wednesday in a Boston federal court for receiving child sexual abuse material obtained via Zoom chat rooms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. Benson’s sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.

Benson pleaded guilty in March 2024 to receipt of child pornography after being charged in a criminal complaint in November 2023.

According to prosecutors, in April 2023, investigators were tipped off that Benson had participated in Zoom video chat rooms used to share and view illegal material. Benson recorded the content of the chat room and saved the footage. Those recordings featured videos of sexual abuse as well as conversations Benson had with others about the content of the videos, according to officials. 

Investigators found 15 video files showing the material, which Benson had saved to his Dropbox account. Prosecutors say Benson also uploaded two files containing child sex assault material to Dropbox. The victims appeared to be approximately 2 to 4 years old.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Benson’s case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The program marshals federal, state, and local resources to track down, arrest, and prosecute those who exploit children. It also aims to identify and rescue child victims of sex crimes.

Morgan Rousseau

Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.

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