A registered sex offender with a 1974 conviction for raping and murdering a 6-year-old boy, was arrested yesterday for possession and distribution of images of child rape, announced Acting United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  ANDREW NICHOLAS EVICH, 67, of Everett, Washington made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle yesterday and will remain in federal custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday March 10, 2015.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations identified EVICH as the person posing online as a 13-year-old boy with an interest in sexually explicit images of children.  The criminal complaint in the case alleges EVICH was using a peer-to-peer file sharing computer program to receive and distribute sexually explicit images of young boys being molested or raped.  The investigation is still determining the origin of hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos.

If convicted, EVICH faces a mandatory minimum 15 years in prison and up to 40 years in prison because of his criminal history as a sex offender.  He was convicted in 1974 in Whatcom County Superior Court of the sexual assault and murder of a 6-year-old boy.  EVICH was returned to prison in 1985 when he was convicted of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor for sexual contact with a 15-year-old.   In 1998 he was sentenced to five years in federal prison for receipt of child pornography.

The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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 is being investigated by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kate Vaughan.  Ms. Vaughan serves as the Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.