Skagit County Man Sentenced to 12+ Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

            A 29-year-old Anacortes, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 151 months in prison and 20 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.  CONOR RYAN KELLY BRODERICK has prior convictions for sex offenses, and came to the attention of police following reports from two victims that BRODERICK was harassing them, and threatening to post explicit pictures of them on the internet.  At sentencing U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly said he was troubled by BRODERICK’s previous convictions.

According to records filed in the case, BRODERICK was arrested November 3, 2012 by Anacortes Police after a stalking incident.  The stalking followed a report to police by two different women claiming BRODERICK was threatening to post nude pictures of them on the internet unless they sent him additional pictures.  While incarcerated, BRODERICK called an acquaintance and told the person to remove a memory card from his computer.  Investigators who had been monitoring the jail calls, obtained a search warrant and ultimately determined the memory card and other media storage devices contained more than 100 images of child pornography.  Later, while released on bail, BRODERICK entered into a “sexting” relationship with a girl in Kentucky who identified herself as a 14-year-old.  BRODERICK has these prior convictions: Rape of a Child in the Third Degree (three counts), in Skagit County (2007) and Dealing in Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Activity (two counts), in Skagit County (2007).

In asking for the 151 month prison sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court, “The picture that emerges of the defendant is clear and consistent – he is a sexual predator who has a compulsion to have sexual contact with children and view child pornography. …  Moreover, the defendant to date has shown no ability to control himself.  In his previous child pornography case, he violated his probation by accessing the internet, viewing more pornography, and not completing his sex therapy treatment.”

BRODERICK was prosecuted 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.projectsafechildhood.gov

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jerrod Patterson.  The case was investigated by the Anacortes Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.