Seattle Sex Offender Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Distribution of Child Pornography

            A registered sex offender with prior convictions for molesting two young girls, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.  JOSEPH EDGAR BROWN, 30, resided in Seattle at the time of his arrest.  Evidence in the case revealed that he made statements online about raping his unborn child and offering other sex offenders the opportunity to rape his unborn child.  At sentencing U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones told BROWN, “you are a danger to the community and the court needs to protect young children from you.”

            “This defendant is the most dangerous of offenders,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.  “It was horrible enough that he molested two little girls.  Within only three years after his release, and while under supervision, he then engaged in the prolific distribution of horrific videos of toddlers and young children being raped, all the while boasting of his prior offenses and encouraging others to rape their own children.”

            According to records filed in the case, BROWN opened email accounts in the name of a former roommate and between March and July 2013, used the accounts to distribute child pornography to more than 50 people.  BROWN obtained additional images of infants and toddlers being raped and sexually assaulted from three dozen other people.  BROWN was arrested some three weeks before the birth of his child.  A forensic review of BROWN’s electronic devices revealed that he had chatted online with others about raping and molesting his child once the child was born.

“We now know Brown’s penchant for trading images of brutal sexual abuse of toddlers and infants was just the tip of the iceberg,” said Brad Bench, special agent in charge of HSI Seattle.  “Through our investigation we discovered online chats between Brown and other child predators discussing his soon to be born child, who he planned on abusing.  Fortunately, the cycle of abuse will end here due to the efforts of the investigators and prosecutors who brought this man to justice.”

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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

            The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Seattle Police Department as part of the Seattle Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC).  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kate Vaughan.