SANDISFIELD — A town man with a long history of sex crimes against minors, including a recent stalking charge in Connecticut, is now facing firearms charges after police found a sawed-off shotgun in his home.
Brian Hohman, 56, was arraigned Sept. 23 after police found the weapon while investigating a “possible sexual assault” at his home, according to a police report. He was released from jail five days later after posting $2,500 of the initial $15,000 bail.
Hohman, whose convictions stretch from the Berkshires to the U.K., was arrested again on Oct. 7 for allegedly stalking a Winsted, Conn. teen in August. He is currently held on $250,000 bond in that case.
State police were investigating a complaint by an adult about an incident at Hohman’s home last month when the man told police about the shotgun, the report said.
During a search of the home, police said they found the gun on the floor of Hohman’s unlocked closet, without a mechanical lock or other safety device. Police also say they found a single round of 16-gauge shotgun ammunition at the home.
It was unclear whether Hohman would face charges in connection with the alleged sexual assault in his home. The Berkshire District Attorney’s Office said it could not comment to protect ongoing investigations by the State Police Detective Unit attached to the office and other agencies, said Andrew McKeever, public information officer.
Hohman’s record shows 47 arraignments in the Berkshires on sexual assault charges, including rape of a child, that stretch from 1993 to 2017, according to court documents.
A Level 3 sex offender in Massachusetts and a former Great Barrington resident, Hohman was convicted in 1993 for assaulting eight minors in the Berkshires, for which he served a six-year prison sentence.
In 2010, he admitted to making sexually suggestive comments to a boy at a municipal pool in Scotland, and spent a year in jail.
And in 2019 he was found not guilty of groping a young man outside a gym in Pittsfield.
Hohman also has a criminal record in New York, Florida and California, according to the Republican-American, a newspaper based in Waterbury, Conn.
The Connecticut charges stem from Hohman allegedly stalking a 15-year-old male at his home on Aug. 15. The teen told police Hohman tried to lure him into his car while he was riding his bicycle near Winsted, according to court documents.
Hohman is scheduled to reappear in Torrington Superior Court on Oct. 30. on the stalking charge.
And he is scheduled to appear again on Oct. 29 in Southern Berkshire District Court, where he is charged with possession of a sawed-off shotgun and improper storage of a firearm.
This story has been modified to correct Hohman's age.