Former Bothell Resident Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison For Producing, Possessing, and Distributing Images of Child Molestation

            DONALD MCCOY JR , 53, of  Bothell, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to twenty-four years in prison and lifetime supervised release for production, distribution and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  MCCOY was arrested in October 2016, and has been in federal custody since that time.  At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said “that his sentence was intended to remove [the defendant] from society so he cannot do this anymore.”

            “No sentence – no matter how long -- will ever address the harm this defendant did,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  “Not only did he commit a horrific crime when he molested young children, but he also harmed other children when he participated in the trading of images and videos of their abuse.  I commend the dedication of the law enforcement officers who ensure that offenders are taken off the internet and out of our communities so they can no longer hurt our kids.”

            According to records filed in the case, MCCOY came to the attention of federal law enforcement in 2016, when an undercover agent using peer-to-peer file sharing software observed images of child rape being shared from a computer tied to an internet protocol address that traced back to MCCOY’s residence.  After obtaining the address and a court authorized search warrant, law enforcement executed the search at MCCOY’s home.  Forensic examination of various electronic devices revealed that MCCOY had produced images of his molestation of four young children between the ages of 6 and 13 years-old.  MCCOY molested several of the children while they were asleep.

          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

          The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistant with the Seattle Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Hampton.