Former Kent, Washington Attorney Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Offenses

A family law attorney who previously practiced in Kent, Washington, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to production of child pornography, receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.  DAVID SCOTT ENGLE, 49, of Maple Valley, Washington was arrested in November 2012.  ENGLE, who both volunteered in and ran a business involving youth baseball, has been incarcerated since his arrest.  ENGLE faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of fifteen years when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge James L. Robart on October 21, 2013.

According to records filed in the case, ENGLE came to the attention of law enforcement following the investigation of an international movie production company that operated a website offering DVDs and streaming videos for sale.  The materials depicted young boys in sexually explicit activity.  Between 2005 and 2011, ENGLE purchased 184 different items from the website.  The international movie production company was put out of business when agents seized its inventory and records.  The company and the owners of the company are being prosecuted for child exploitation offenses, including the production and distribution of child pornography.

After law enforcement executed a search warrant on ENGLE’s home and storage locker in November 2012, they discovered more than 500 videos of ENGLE sexually molesting a young boy under the age of 16.  Law enforcement later discovered additional evidence of ENGLE sexually molesting another young boy, also under the age of 16.  ENGLE is being separately prosecuted for those offenses by the King County Prosecutor’s Office.  Following forensic examination of a number of computers, DVDs, thumb drives, and floppy disks, investigators determined that ENGLE was in possession of tens of thousands of images of child pornography, and thousands of videos of child pornography.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marci Ellsworth.

Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Thomas Bates at (206) 553-7970 or Thomas.Bates@usdoj.gov.