A former Husson University associate professor is charged with 10 felonies after he was allegedly viewing sexually explicit images of children and filming students at the school.
Jonathan Houck, 33, of Bangor had his first appearance Monday afternoon in Penobscot County court. He is charged with six felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material and four counts of violations of privacy.
Houck, who was arrested Friday, did not enter a guilty plea because he is charged with felonies. The case will go before a grand jury that will decide whether or not to indict him on the charges.
A police investigation found child sexual abuse material on Houck’s phone, Deputy District Attorney Chelsea Lynds said. There is no indication he produced the images but it did involve children as young as 5 years old.
While investigating that case, police found images on Houck’s accounts of college women who clearly didn’t know they were being recorded, Lynds said. Houck, a professor of exercise science and assistant cross country coach, used his position to have students undress and weigh themselves while a hidden camera recorded them, she said.
Lynds’ description of the Husson allegations align with a student’s TikTok video posted on Thursday. The student accused Houck of filming partially dressed students with hidden cameras in a fall 2025 exercise science class where the students’ body weights were needed. She undressed to her bra and underwear, weighed herself, got dressed and went back to class.
“In this case, the defendant has both a sexual interest in children and a deviant criminal sexual interest in adults, which was demonstrated by using his position of trust as a professor to create this opportunity to capture his own students in states of undress,” Lynds said.
Houck’s lawyer for the day did not make an argument about bail because Houck has retained an attorney who will do so at a later date.
Judge Meghan Szylvian raised Houck’s cash bail to $100,000 at the request of Lynds. He was held on a $50,000 bail over the weekend.
He is held in the Penobscot County Jail. Part of his bail conditions include no contact with any children, no contact with current or former Husson students, and not to go on the campus. If he posts bail, he cannot live within 5 miles of a school.