News

Four Seattle-area men charged in online child sex sting

SEATTLE — Four men who were arrested after an online FBI sting focusing on adults who were trying to have sex with children were indicted by a federal grand jury, U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran announced Friday.

Officials said the investigation showed that some of the men had molested other children or collected images of child sex abuse before they were identified by authorities.

Case records show the men are accused of talking with undercover agents and officers on the internet in September and October of last year with the intent to meet and sexually abuse children, some as young as 6 years old.

The men were arrested, and their phones and other electronic devices were seized, along with items that were to be used in the planned sexual assaults, documents say.

Seattle man Eric Hogan, 33, is charged with attempted enticement of a minor. Authorities say he chatted online with an undercover agent about sexually assaulting the agent’s fictitious 6-year-old and 12-year-old daughters.

Justice Galloway, of Everett, is facing the same charge. He’s accused of communicating with an agent about sexually assaulting the agent’s fictitious 6-year-old and 11-year-old daughters. Galloway is 26.

Woodinville man Christopher Sinfield, and Marcus William Lowe, of Kirkland, are both charged with attempted enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography. Lowe, 33, is also charged with assaulting a federal officer.

Prosecutors say Sinfield, 28, spoke online with an agent posing as a 13-year-old girl and had photos of child sex abuse on a device when he was arrested.

Lowe is accused of talking with an agent about sexually assaulting the agent’s fictitious 10-year-old daughter.

Charges say Lowe pinned an agent between his car and another vehicle while trying to get away from authorities. The investigation found he had photos of child sex abuse and molestation of a child under 12, law enforcement said.

Attempted enticement of a minor has a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of up to life in prison. Possession of child pornography and assault on a federal officer both have sentences of up to 20 years in prison.

The cases are being investigated by the FBI.

0