Spokane–Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Kevin Michael Dettmer, age 34, of Walla Walla, Washington, was sentenced today for Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography. United States District Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. sentenced Dettmer to a five-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by a ten-year term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison. Dettmer will also be required to register as a sex offender.
According to information disclosed during the court proceedings, in the fall of 2015, Dettmer responded to a personal ad posted by an undercover task force officer working with Homeland Security Investigations and the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is composed of law enforcement officers from the Richland Police Department, the Kennewick Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations. During the course of the communications with the undercover officer, Dettmer repeatedly solicited images of the undercover officer’s fictitious twelve and thirteen-year-old children. Dettmer also provided graphic images of himself and of an adult female that he purported to be fifteen years old. Eventually, Dettmer asked the undercover officer for contact information for the fictitious thirteen-year-old child. The undercover officer provided such information to Dettmer, who proceeded to contact the fictitious child via email and text message.
During his communications with the fictitious child over an approximately one-month period, Dettmer asked the child to take pornographic images utilizing a phone or camera to send to him. Dettmer also encouraged the child to travel to Walla Walla to engage in sexual contact, and discussed providing her with a phone and money upon her arrival. Dettmer was later arrested in Walla Walla, Washington, after arriving to meet the fictitious child. On May 27, 2016, Dettmer pled guilty to Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography.
Michael C. Ormsby said, “This case is an fine example of the great work that can be done when state and federal law enforcement officers work together. Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to those who think they are acting with immunity when using email and text messages to send or receive child pornography or attempting to do so; such criminals will be actively and aggressively pursued by federal and state law enforcement.”
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the United States Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. The Project Safe Childhood Initiative (“PSC”) has five major components:
Integrated federal, state, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases, and to identify and rescue children;
Participation of PSC partners in coordinated national initiatives;
Increased federal enforcement in child pornography and enticement cases;
Training of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents; and
Community awareness and educational programs.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Laurel J. Holland, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.