Deming, Washington man sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for receipt and possession of images of child sexual abuse

Seattle – A 47-year-old resident of Deming, Whatcom County, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 160 months in prison for two federal felonies related to his receipt and possession of child sexual abuse material, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Robert J. Howell Jr. came to the attention of law enforcement in late 2019 when a foreign country police organization alerted Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that an IP address associated with Howell Jr’s residence had accessed a website devoted to child sexual abuse material. Following a two-day jury trial in April 2025, jurors deliberated about an hour before finding Howell Jr. guilty.  U.S District Judge John C. Coughenour ordered Howell Jr. to pay $141,000 in restitution to the 47 child victims exploited in the sexual abuse imagery.

Judge Coughenour imposed the sentence of more than 13 years in prison saying it was driven by the quantity and violent nature of the child sexual abuse material. Judge Coughenour noted Howell Jr. “poses a danger to the community and has a complete lack of contrition.” Howell Jr. will be on twenty years of supervised release following his prison term.

According to records filed in the case and testimony at trial, after getting the tip from a foreign law enforcement organization, HSI agents sought information on the account associated with the IP address. The IP address was linked to Howell’s home in Deming. On September 15, 2020, federal agents executed a search warrant and seized several dozen electronic devices. A forensic review determined there were more than 90,000 files depicting child sexual abuse on some 21 electronic devices. Many of the images were of the sexual abuse of very young children and included depictions involving extreme violence.

At trial, prosecutors proved that between 2016 and 2019, Howell Jr. received five specific files of child sexual abuse material and knowingly possessed many more.

In all, more than 75 electronic assets including computers, phones, tablets, hard drives, storage devices, gaming devices, and CDs were seized by law enforcement and have been forfeited to the government.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Hampton and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M. Ly.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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 www.justice.gov/psc.