A registered sex offender who committed new crimes against children while on supervised release was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison and lifetime supervised release. JAMES WILLIAM STILSON, 40, of Everett, has previous convictions for possession of child pornography and failing to register as a sex offender. Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez imposed the sentence.
According to records filed in the case, STILSON was taken into custody in December 2015, when his federal probation officer became concerned that STILSON had multiple electronic devices for accessing the internet – something prohibited under the terms of his supervision. Forensic examination of his devices revealed that he had images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Additionally, STILSON was using a messaging service popular with teens to try to convince young girls to send him sexually explicit pictures. STILSON was posing as a teen-age boy to try to get the girls to send the photos. In one instance, STILSON sent a young girl an image of child pornography in an attempt to convince her to send him explicit photos.
STILSON’s original conviction for possession of child pornography was in 2004 in New Mexico. His supervision was transferred to Western Washington and in 2009, computer monitoring equipment required on his electronic devices revealed he had been accessing websites devoted to child pornography. Before law enforcement could arrest STILSON, he absconded to Mexico. When he attempted to sneak back into the U.S., STILSON was arrested and was convicted in 2012 for failing to register as a sex offender. Some two years into his most recent term of supervised release, his probation officer conducted a home inspection and observed STILSON through a window using a smart phone – something he was not supposed to have. Law enforcement brought in ‘Bear’ - - the Seattle Police canine trained to find electronic devices - - who searched the home and found three smart phones and other digital devices.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Seattle Police Department. Critical assistance was provided by the U.S. Probation Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Hampton.
Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Colleen Bernier at (206)553-7970.