Two Western Washington Men Get Long Prison Terms in Separate Cases Involving Child Pornography

          Two defendants were sentenced this month to long prison terms in separate cases for distributing or creating sexually explicit images of children, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  In the first case, DANNY ZIMMERMAN, 43, a registered sex offender in SeaTac, Washington was sentenced March 15, 2016, to ten years in prison and 20 years of supervised release.  ZIMMERMAN was arrested in June 2015, after an investigation traced images of child rape to ZIMMERMAN’s Twitter account and his internet protocol (IP) address.  

            ZIMMERMAN pleaded guilty in December 2015, to possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  According to records filed in the case, between September 2014 and February 2015, Twitter made multiple reports to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) about images of child rape uploaded to the internet.  The reports resulted in a law enforcement investigation involving Western Washington’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.  The investigation revealed that the internet address involved in the distribution of the sexually explicit images was used by ZIMMERMAN.  ZIMMERMAN is a registered sex offender with two 1996 convictions for child molestation in the first degree.

            In the second case, GREGORY MARK MOLLEY, 54, of Issaquah, Washington was sentenced today to eight years in prison and 15 years of supervised release for receipt of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  MOLLEY pleaded guilty in December 2015, admitting he used hidden cameras to film children in the bathroom and bedrooms of his home.

            Both men were sentenced by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour.  Judge Coughenour reminded MOLLEY at his sentencing that his conduct was devastating to the victims of his crime.

          The MOLLEY case was investigated by the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) and the U.S. Secret Service.  The ZIMMERMAN case was investigated by the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, the Kent Police Department, the King County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of Homeland     Security Investigations. 

          Both cases were prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.  Ms. Gregson is a Senior Deputy King County Prosecutor specially designated to prosecute child exploitation cases in federal court.

          These cases were 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.