Clinton police: Man who made gun-firing drone arrested again on child sex charges

Austin G. Haughwout Austin G. Haughwout Photo: Photo Courtesy Of The Clinton Police Department Photo: Photo Courtesy Of The Clinton Police Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Clinton police: Man who made gun-firing drone arrested again on child sex charges 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

CLINTON >> A man who got national attention for building a pistol-firing drone last year and then posting videos of them on YouTube is facing more charges in Clinton, where police say he tried to sexually entice a minor.

Austin G. Haughwout, 19, turned himself in on the new charges early Thursday, Clinton police said in a release.

Haughwout, who lives on Egypt Lane, was charged by warrant with enticing a minor, attempted fourth-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. He was arraigned Thursday in Middletown Superior Court and released on a $25,000 cash bond. As part of his release, Haughwout was ordered not to have any contact with a 14-year-old involved in the case, not to use social media and to turn over all electronic devices to the court clerk’s office.

Details about the allegations were not immediately available because the warrant has been sealed.

Haughwout was arrested on similar charges in June. In that case, he has been charged with enticing a minor with a computer, attempt to commit fourth-degree sexual assault, risk of injury and possession of child pornography.

State records show Haughwout has not entered a plea on those charges. He had been free on $35,000 bail pending an Oct. 20 appearance in Middletown Superior Court.

A Clinton police sergeant confirmed that Thursday’s charges are separate from the June arrest, but he would not say when the new crimes occurred.

Haughwout sparked a national discussion in July 2015 when he posted a 14-second YouTube video of a drone firing a handgun in the woods. Local and federal authorities investigated but were unable to find any laws that banned such a device.

Less than a week after that video went up, Haughwout allegedly sped away from Clinton police when they attempted to stop and question him. Police said the officers were told to let Haughwout go in fear that he might ram a police cruiser, hit an officer or start a pursuit that endangered the public, according to a warrant in that case.

A few days later, Haughwout went to police headquarters to turn himself in but was arrested on more charges after police say he assaulted two officers.

Haughwout had a GoPro camera with him when he went to surrender. In a later posting online, Haughwout said he went to put the camera in his car and was thrown to the ground and had his head “bashed against the wall and floor until I vomited and passed out. I woke up 45 minutes later in the hospital stripped naked.”

Police say Haughwout refused an officer’s commands to stop, then tried to leave the station. They tried to arrest him and a physical altercation ensued, which left two officers with minor injuries, police said.

Police said Haughwout appeared to have trouble breathing and vomited once he was in his cell. Haughwout was taken to Shoreline Medical Center in Westbrook, where a nurse reportedly found a phone in his underwear that was on and recording.

In those July 2015 cases, Haughwout has pleaded not guilty to charges of interfering with police, disobeying an officer’s signal and assaulting a police officer. He is also facing charges in a September 2015 incident in which he allegedly misused the 911 system.

Hartford attorney Jon Schoenhorn is representing Haughwout on the June charges but said he was not representing Haughwout on the latest allegations as of Thursday afternoon. Schoenhorn said he did not know anything about the latest allegations.

Schoenhorn said the June charges stem from an unsolicited video sent to Haughwout by a teenage girl in Rhode Island. The video, he said, shows the girl “twerking” while wearing clothing.

“Under no theory anywhere in the United States would that constitute pornography, risk of injury or anything else,” the attorney said in an interview Thursday.

Clinton investigators described twerking as “sexually suggestive dancing characterized by rapid, repeated hip thrusts and shaking of the buttocks especially while squatting.”

They said twerking has “become a catch-all for an overtly sexualized style of dancing wherein one manipulates the hips and posterior in an often hypnotic and physics defying bounce.”

In an affidavit for the June charges, investigators detailed text messages Haughwout sent to the teen in Rhode Island, including ones where he allegedly described sex acts he wanted to perform on her, asked her what kind of underwear she was wearing and asked her for color photos of herself.

Haughwout also tried to convince her to come to his house, according to police.

The day the twerking video was sent, investigators say the teen sent Haughwout a photo in which she was wearing “colorful pants.” Investigators say Haughwout allegedly asked the teen if she wanted to be naked together.

Investigators say the teen girl sent the 34-second twerking video Sept. 27, 2014.

Police said that during the dance, the teens buttocks and vagina were “(closest) to the camera.” After seeing the twerking video, Haughwout allegedly texted the teen “I like my cuties (sic) butt,” according to the warrant.

In early 2015, Clinton police found Haughwout was having “sexually explicit” conversations with two girls, the teen from Rhode Island and another girl who as 11, according to the warrant.

Two Clinton detectives interviewed Haughwout at his home in March 2015 in the presence of his father. Investigators said Haughwout was adamant that he was not committing any crime as long as he didn’t have physical contact with the girls. But Haughwout’s father told him he was “playing with fire” by having the conversations, according to police.

In May 2015, Clinton police had the teen come from her home in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, for an interview. She told to police Haughwout had friended her through Facebook, then began texting her, according to the warrant.

After Haughwout was arrested in July 2015, police got a warrant to search the phone found in his underwear. On it, police found “many photos of what appeared to be pre-pubescent females” some of whom were in “various stages of undress and posed in a provocative manner,” according to the warrant.

Police allege that Haughwout had sexually explicit conversations with several girls, some of whom told him they were as young as 12. Haughwout allegedly convinced them to send the photos and tried to get them to send him naked photos. In some photos, the girls were also masturbating, the warrant says.

Police say Haughwout communicated with the Rhode Island teen between Dec. 22, 2014, and Jan. 9, 2015, and they say that in several of the conversations, Haughwout tried to entice the teen to meet him.

Police say Haughwout did “knowingly persuade” the teen to meet with him for sex, which they said violates the state law against enticing a minor. But it is not clear whether the teen actually ever met with Haughwout.

They also said Haughwout’s statements that he wanted to grab the Rhode Island teen’s buttocks constituted attempted fourth-degree sexual assault.

Police said the twerking video constituted child pornography because the video depicts the teen engaging in “sexually explicit conduct” and “lascivious exhibition of the genitals and pubic area.” They also said the underwear the teen was wearing did not completely hide her genital and pubic area.

Schoenhorn said he is seeking to suppress the video because police found it on Haughwout’s phone using a search warrant that was too broad. He said the phone was seized in 2014 and that police have been searching it since.

“We will demonstrate that the Clinton police harbor animosity against the Haughwout family because of the drone video and the fact his family (previously) sued Clinton police,” Schoenhorn said.

Haughwout had been a student at Central Connecticut State University when the drone video first went online. He was expelled but challenged that action, saying school officials had made up allegations of threats because they were concerned about the videos.

School officials said Haughwout did make threatening statements and gestures toward people on campus.

Haughwout sued the school but the case was dismissed in February.

Middletown Press Managing Editor Cassandra Day contributed to this report.