While employed as a member of the fire department of Aurora, Sevier County, Utah, United States, Gary Joseph “Joe” Hawkins, 44, allegedly possessed child sex abuse material. Aside from Aurora, he has lived in other parts of Utah including Centerfield and Salina and he has lived in other parts of New Mexico, USA including Bloomfield, Fruitland and Kirkland.
Gary Joseph Hawkins
“Today is a great day!!!” Hawkins wrote on Facebook on September 9, 2021. “I can no longer be charged for child abuse when I beat my son. Now it’s just a domestic violence lmfao.”
Hawkins used the Kik app to contact someone he thought was a woman aged 43 with a daughter aged 9. Unbeknownst to him, he was actually communicating with an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation‘s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking task force.
In November 2023, the agent posed online as an adult mother with an underage daughter. The agent posted messages on websites intended to attract individuals with a sexual interest in children.
Via Kik, Hawkins tried to encourage the purported mother to meet him so they could sexually assault the purported daughter and repeatedly asked asked for naked photos of the two. He also said he wanted to impregnate both the two to create an incest family and have more children to sexually abuse.
In Hawkins’ messages to the notional mother, he revealed had child sex abuse material on his phone and sent several images and videos. FBI agents conducted surveillance on his residence before arresting him through a traffic stop on January 29, 2024.
From inside a patrol vehicle, Hawkins tried to send his adult son a message, which contained instructions to go to their house to delete or destroy evidence. The firefighter was booked into the Sevier County Jail in Richfield, Sevier County.
After Hawkins’ arrest, the Aurora Fire Department placed him on administrative leave. He was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
CONAN Daily 