Benjamin Hicks, 22, of Rexburg, Madison County, Idaho, United States attended Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg while working at an assisted living facility. He is originally from Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, USA.
On July 30, 2022, Hicks got married. He lived in an apartment complex in Rexburg.
On June 24, 2023, a detective with the police department of Rupert, Minidoka County posing as a girl aged 13 on Kik engaged in a non-sexual conversation with Hicks. The Rexburg man later started asking for sexual content.
On July 13, 2023, Hicks requested self-generated child sexual abuse material of who he thought was a girl aged 13. The purported girl refused to give it but he reportedly continued to ask for it.
During their conversations, Hicks allegedly said he wanted to travel to Rupert to have sexual relations with the purported girl, who repeatedly told him she was 13. The detective behind the purported girl told Hicks a former adult boyfriend had sexually abused her and taken CSAM images and videos of her.
On August 5, 2023, Hicks asked the purported girl if she had any other social media accounts and the latter said she had one on MeWe. They started communicating over Kik and MeWe and exchanged phone numbers.
On MeWe, Hicks sent photos of himself, showing his face. He requested to speak to the purported girl’s former boyfriend so the detective posed as the former boyfriend.
When Hicks sent text messages to the purported former boyfriend, he requested CSAM of the purported girl. Posing as the ex-boyfriend, the detective told Hicks he had a Telegram account.
Through Telegram, Hicks sent the purported ex-boyfriend CSAM, including multiple inappropriate videos of girls between aged 3 to 14. On September 5, 2023, Hicks sent videos of girls aged 1-4 who were being sexually abused.
On September 14, 2023, the detective contacted the Rexburg Police Department and requested assistance to find Hicks. A judge in Minidoka County granted a warrant for Hicks’s arrest.
On October 17, 2023, the Rupert Police Department, the Rexburg Police Department, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the Idaho Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed the warrant in Rexburg. That day, a case against Hicks was filed in court.
Bond for Hicks was set at $75,000. He spent a few days in the Madison County Jail in Rexburg before he was transferred to the Mini-Cassia Criminal Justice Center in Burley, Idaho.
At 3:00 p.m. on October 31, 2023, Hicks will attend a preliminary hearing at the Minidoka County Courthouse. He was charged with five felonies for distribution of child sexually exploitative material.
CONAN Daily 