Investigators: Child Porn Found In Filthy, Roach-Infested Home

A 45-year-old registered sex offender accused of child abuse after two young children were removed from a filthy home with cockroaches now faces charges of sexual exploitation of children.

Investigators said Rex Earl Hampton, of the 500 block of North Fifth Street, was in possession of numerous still images and videos depicting children engaging in sexual acts. Officers who were checking on the welfare of the children and verifying Hampton’s address last month discovered that Hampton had a desktop computer and asked for permission to search it.

According to ABC-7 archives, Hampton was convicted of criminal sexual contact of a minor, a third-degree felony, in April 2001.

Hampton was initially arrested on suspicion of negligent child abuse and was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $10,000. He now faces seven counts of sexual exploitation of children and is being held on a cash-only bond of $50,000.

When officers entered at the house, they said they were overcome by the odor of cat urine and feces that permeated throughout the home.

The children’s mother, Ethel Fay Hampton, took officers to a dark bedroom where her 22-month-old son was asleep in a crib. When an officer turned on his flashlight to see the young child, cockroaches scattered from the crib. Ethel Hampton is Rex Hampton’s sister.

Police said there were spider webs and swarms of baby spiders above the child’s crib. The baby was examined by a physician, who told investigators that he appeared to be suffering from several insect bites and possibly one spider bite.

Ethel Hampton, 40, also of the 500 block of North Fifth Street, was arrested on suspicion of negligent child abuse and was being held at the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $10,000.

Officers found moldy food on the floor and numerous live and dead roaches inside the refrigerator. Investigators learned that Ethel Hampton had eight cats in the home, but recently removed five that were ill.

The Hamptons’ 77-year-old mother also lived in the home. Ethel Hampton’s mother and daughter did not appear to have any injuries.

The two children are now in the custody of the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible.