The Olympia Police Department (OPD) arrested an Olympia man for his alleged involvement in the uploading of images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The arrest was made after an investigation on the Internet Crime Against Children (ICAC) Cybertip received on July 31, 2023 by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on the uploading of a total of 14 images listed through ICAC.
To identify the possible suspect, ICAC investigator traced the phone number used in the commission of the crime using a police database that a male in his mid-thirties as the possible suspect.
He also had a prior conviction for first-degree child molestation in about 20 years ago involving a cousin, but he is no longer on Department of Corrections (DOC) supervision.
Upon verifying the suspect's identity, authorities went to the suspect’s place of employment on November 28.
Law enforcement asked the manager to inform the suspect to retrieve some mail from the police car parked outside.
When the suspect approached the police car, the authorities served the warrant of arrest and advised him he was under arrest for first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The arresting officers retrieved the suspect’s cell phone during the arrest and tagged it as evidence.
The suspect was brought to the Olympia Police station for questioning where he admitted he had been downloading videos of minors engaged in sexual activity with adults.
“The suspect admitted to us that his video preference is pre-pubescent females between the ages of 7-10,” OPD stated in the report.
Olympia Police reported that the suspect used the three apps for communicating anonymously and sending private messages.
The suspect also admitted that he would take photos of his girlfriend’s daughter, but police say he told them that he never sexually touched her.
Police stated that the suspect stated that he did not know why he liked these types of content but admitted that he already liked watching videos of pre-pubescent girls when he was just 15 years old.
The next day after the arrest, authorities went to the residence of the suspect's girlfriend for a follow-up.
During the interview, she provided information that he had been alone with her daughter.
“The girlfriend said that the suspect had been on his phone a lot more lately and thought he might be talking to someone but admitted that she never came across anything when she looked through his messages,” OPD stated in the report.
The girlfriend added that the suspect has a tablet and an older laptop he used in the past which the authorities seized and placed into evidence.
The suspect was charged with first-degree possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, in violation of RCW 9.68A.070, by the Thurston County Prosecuting Office.
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