SEQUIM MAN CONVICTED OF RECEIPT AND POSSESSION OF
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
ROBERT CARL PATTERSON, 37, of Sequim, Washington, was convicted yesterday of seven counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. After a two-day trial, the U.S. District Court jury in Tacoma deliberated for two and one-half hours before finding PATTERSON guilty. U.S. District Court Judge Franklin D. Burgess will sentence PATTERSON on April 15, 2005.
The investigation of PATTERSON began in September 2003, when his ex-girlfriend alerted the Clallam County Sheriff's Office about PATTERSON's activities. On September 14, 2003, sheriff's deputies served a search warrant on PATTERSON's house, computer, and vehicle. Deputies discovered thousands of digital images of children, some as young as three or four years old, engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Some of the images depicted sadistic and masochistic abuse. The images were recovered from the hard drive of PATTERSON's computer and from CD-ROM and floppy disks in a briefcase in his car. Forensic analysis of the computer shows PATTERSON had downloaded some of the images from the internet.
Receipt of child pornography is punishable by a mandatory minimum of at least 5 years in prison, and up to 20 years in prison. The case was investigated by the Clallam County Sheriff's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with assistance from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Susan Dohrmann and Vincent T. Lombardi prosecuted the case.
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington, at (206) 553-4110.
