An official of the court in Hanoi said Vadim Scott Benderman arrived in Vietnam in 2014 and taught English at a foreign language training center and played music at a bar in the city's Old Quarter.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of court policy, said Benderman was arrested in June after being caught abusing a boy at his rented house.
The official said Benderman admitted that he lured the homeless boys, aged 14 to 16, to his house after meeting them at a lake in central Hanoi and paid them USD 10 to USD 15 to have sex.