Skagit County man once declared a sexually violent predator, pleads guilty to receipt and possession of images of child sexual abuse

Seattle – A 71–year-old Skagit County man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to receipt and possession of images of child sexual abuse, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Alan Lewis Meirhofer faces a mandatory minimum 15-year prison sentence when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge John H. Chun on June 2, 2025.

According to records filed in the case, Meirhofer befriended teen boys in the Skagit County area by inviting them to hang out at his residence, where he provided them “gifts’ such as food, clothing, alcohol, cash, and marijuana. When one of the boys borrowed the phone, he noticed that Meirhofer had sent members of a group chat, images of his friends. The teen also saw images of child sexual abuse on the phone. The teens mother alerted police and Meirhofer was arrested in March 2021 and his electronic devices were seized.

The FBI asked the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, (NCMEC) for any cyber tips associated with internet accounts linked to Meirhofer. There were more than a dozen reports of images of child sexual abuse linked to accounts controlled by Meirhofer. On July 17, 2024, Meirhofer was taken into federal custody.

In 1988 Meirhofer was convicted of burglary, kidnapping and rape. In 1990, Meirhofer was convicted of Burglary in the First Degree While Armed with a Deadly Weapon and Assault in the Second Degree. Meirhofer was civilly committed to the sexually violent predator Civil Commitment Center on McNeil Island.  He was released in 2017 as a registered sex offender level 3, the level with the highest risk of reoffending.

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 the FBI, the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office, the Bellingham Police Department, and the Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.