Mountlake Terrace man arrested on child pornography charges

mltnewsA Mountlake Terrace man was arrested by federal authorities on Tuesday and charged with the production, possession and distribution of child pornography.

The charges against David Stephens were detailed in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Stephens lives in the 4400 block of 223rd St. SW. in Mountlake Terrace.

Federal authorities executed a search warrant at Stephens’ residence on Tuesday, March 10 and during the search located a laptop computer that contained files depicting child pornography. Authorities also found a digital camera in the office of the residence and discovered several images of a young girl being sexually abused. A U.S. Homeland Special Agent estimated that the victim to be 3 to 5 years old. The background image in one of photos appears to be of Stephens’ residence, the federal investigator wrote.

Stephens has been charged with two counts of Production of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography. Stephens became the subject of an undercover online investigation in February when law enforcement officials downloaded files of child pornography that Stephens allegedly was in possession of and was distributing through a file sharing site.

A criminal history check of Stephens initiated by federal authorities found that in 2003, Stephens was charged with possession of depiction of minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The federal investigator wrote that court documents from Snohomish County Superior Court and documents/reports from the Mountlake Terrace Police Department indicate that in November 2002 Mountlake Terrace detectives conducted a consensual interview and subsequently conducted a consensual search of Stephens’ computer.

The investigation found that Stephens possessed files depicting child pornography. Federal authorities indicated that Stephens’ attorney submitted a motion to suppress evidence in Snohomish County Superior Court on March 2003, requesting the court to suppress evidence obtained during the search of Stephens’ computer. In May 2003, the Snohomish County Superior Court dismissed the charges against Stephens, stating that the search of his residence was unlawful and subsequently suppressing all evidence derived from the search.

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