U.S. Attorney's Office for the District Eastern Washington issued the following announcement on Jan. 28.
William D. Hyslop, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Mikhail Yuriy Ageyev, age 34, a citizen of Ukraine and a resident of Moses Lake, Washington was sentenced today after having pleaded guilty on October 21, 2019 to conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. Senior United States District Judge Wm. Fremming Nielsen sentenced Ageyev to a 50-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by a lifetime term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison.
According to information disclosed during court proceedings, Ageyev came to law enforcement attention through a series of CyberTips from Twitter and the Microsoft Corporation about suspected child pornography uploaded by Ageyev over the internet. CyberTips are reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) of illegal actions taken against children. In this case, as in many cases, the CyberTip pertained to child pornography. NCMEC receives the CyberTip and determines which law enforcement group (geographically) is best suited to respond to the tip. After NCMEC’s review is completed, the information in a CyberTip report is made available to that law enforcement group.
In this case, the first CyberTip was received by the Moses Lake Police Department on October 30, 2017. The Moses Lake Police Department quickly conducted additional investigation to include executing search warrants for various online accounts maintained by Ageyev. The CyberTips and search warrants revealed that Ageyev maintained an online presence where he professed an interest in incest and child pornography and where he traded child pornography images with others online.
On November 18, 2017, the Moses Lake Police Department executed search warrants at Ageyev’s residence in Moses Lake. During a subsequent interview at the Moses Lake Police Department, Ageyev admitted to law enforcement that he had child pornography files on his mobile phone. Ageyev also admitted that he exchanged links, images, and videos of child pornography with others using various methods over the internet. Ageyev also admitted that he produced child pornography by using his mobile phone to take sexually explicit video and still images of his girlfriend’s two-year old daughter. Ageyev was taken into custody the same day.
A subsequent forensic examination of Ageyev’s electronic devices, in particular his mobile phone, revealed child pornography images and videos that he had produced. It also revealed child pornography images and videos Ageyev had downloaded from the internet or received directly from other people over the internet.
A review of several of the child pornography videos found on Ageyev’s device demonstrated that Ageyev’s girlfriend, Katrina Michelle Maradee Adams, was also involved in the production of child pornography involving Adams’ two-year old daughter along with Ageyev. Search warrants were then obtained for electronic devices possessed by Adams and various online accounts maintained by Adams. These search warrants revealed discussions between Ageyev and Adams concerning the sexual abuse of Adams’ two-year old daughter which included Ageyev discussing future plans to sexually abuse and impregnate the child. Law enforcement also located video and still images depicting the sexual abuse of the two-year old victim.
On February 21, 2018, a federal Grand Jury in Spokane returned a multi-count indictment against Ageyev and Adams charging conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. On January 29, 2019, Adams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce child and distribution of child pornography. Adams also agreed to testify against Ageyev at trial. Adams is due to be sentenced on February 24, 2020. Ageyev pleaded guilty on October 21, 2019 to conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.
At the sentencing hearing, Senior United States District Judge Wm. Fremming Nielsen said that “abusing young children in any way, using any method, is conduct that society as a whole agrees is the worst kind of conduct there is and unfortunately you were involved in it.” The Court also said that the “victim is a two and a half year old little girl whose life is now upside down and will never be the same.”
United States Attorney William D. Hyslop said “Sexual predation and exploitation upon a two-year old child. Producing child pornography. It is difficult to imagine a more heinous situation or more egregious situation. Just as terrible, or more egregious, every time a sexually explicit image is downloaded and viewed, the child who is shown is victimized again. Thank goodness Ageyev has now been convicted of three serious felony child pornography offenses and is now removed from society and the ability to hurt others.”
“This is why the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, in collaboration with its federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners, uses every resource and tool available to investigate and prosecute aggressively those involved in child exploitation. This Office will continue to do all we can to protect vulnerable child victims of these horrible crimes by seeking lengthy prison sentences, like the one imposed today, for child pornographers.”
“The sentence in this case is representative of how completely reprehensible this defendant’s crimes are,” said Debra Parker, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle. “What the defendant didn’t count on was how equally passionate HSI and our law enforcement partners are about seeking and holding accountable those who wish to harm children.”
This case was pursued 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." This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Moses Lake Police Department, and the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes against Children Task Force (ICAC). This case was prosecuted by Alison L. Gregoire and James A. Goeke, Assistant United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Washington.
Original source can be found here.
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