Selah Man Sentenced to 5 years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

Yakima, Washington – United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced that Kevin Lee Towner, age 61, of Selah, Washington, was sentenced to 60 months (5 years) in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release by United States District Judge Rebecca L. Pennell on August 21, 2025. Towner pled guilty to the charge of Possession of Child Pornography on April 10, 2025.

According to court documents, after a search warrant was executed on October 6, 2020, at Towner’s residence he was found to have electronic storage media containing images of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct. He admitted to using peer-to-peer file sharing to obtain images of child pornography. Towner was found to possess over 3,000 images of child pornography.  In addition to 60 months of imprisonment and ten years of supervised release, Judge Pennell imposed $45,000 in restitution to victims depicted in the child pornography files Towner possessed. Judge Pennell also required Towner to pay $17,000 pursuant to the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018 (“AVAA”).  Special penalty assessments imposed pursuant to that Act go to a fund from which child pornography victims can draw a one-time payment depending on the amount of restitution they have already received. In addition, Judge Pennell imposed a special penalty assessment of $5,000 pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, which imposes an assessment on any non-indigent person or entity convicted of an offense involving: (1) peonage, slavery, and trafficking in persons; (2) sexual abuse; (3) sexual exploitation and other abuse of children; (4) transportation for illegal sexual activity; or (5) human smuggling in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The money assessed shall be directed into a fund and used to support the Internet Crimes Against Children task forces as well as programs providing services to victims of human trafficking and child abuse.

“This sentence sends a powerful reminder to Mr. Towner and others like him: Crimes that exploit children cannot, and will not be tolerated,” stated U.S. Attorney Serrano. “Thanks to the dedicated work of the FBI and prosecutors from my office, we were able to hold Mr. Towner accountable and protect the most vulnerable among us.”

W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office stated, “Child sexual abuse material is extremely damaging to young people, especially because it is often repeatedly shared and can be nearly impossible to remove from the Internet. Mr. Towner was found to possess not just some but thousands of these graphic images, including of very young children, and he will now face the consequences of that conduct. The FBI is committed to protecting child victims by holding these kinds of predators accountable and showing them they cannot hide their illegal online activity.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Murphy. 

1:24-cr-02059-SAB