SNOHOMISH, Wash. — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.
A Snohomish County man was sentenced to 262 months (21.8 years) in prison today for the production of images including child sexual abuse and attempted enticement of minors, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Bennett S. Park, 43, was arrested in 2023 when he attempted to pick up a 13-year-old in a residential area of Everett. Park told an undercover officer that he planned to pick up and molest the 13-year-old before his arrest.
Snohomish man sentenced for child sexual abuse
In July 2023, Park responded to an online advertisement placed by an undercover Homeland Security Investigation agent, according to the plea agreement. The ad falsely claimed that the agent had two young children who could be molested.
Park responded to the message and indicated that he was actively molesting children between the ages of 11 and 17. Park told the agent that he wanted to molest the agent’s fictional children, but already had plans to meet a 13-year-old child.
In response, law enforcement quickly put Park under surveillance to identify and protect the 13-year-old. At approximately 1:45 a.m. on August 8, 2023, Park was arrested by law enforcement officers just after the 13-year-old entered his vehicle.
“[Park] dedicated years of his life to cultivating, grooming, and enticing young girls in an effort to manipulate them to engage in sexual chatting, sexual acts, and producing sexual imagery for the sole purpose of feeding his pedophilia,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecelia Gregson wrote to the court.
Park’s electronic devices were reviewed after his arrest, which revealed to law enforcement that Park had communicated with dozens of minors. Law enforcement was able to identify 23 of the minor victims. Park convinced the minors to provide images of sexual abuse via Instagram, Discord, Snapchat, Facebook, Gmail, and Zoom. Park detailed his crimes with eight different victims in the plea agreement.
Judge Martinez ordered Park to register as a sex offender. A hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 14, 2025, to determine the amount of restitution Park owes. Park was also fined $3,000 to pay into a fund for victims of child abuse imagery.
“This defendant damaged untold lives – those of his victims and those of their family members, friends, and adults who tried but could not keep them safe from a predator lurking on the internet,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. “I commend the quick work by law enforcement to intervene before he could molest another child.”
U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez ordered Park to be on supervised release for twenty years following his prison term.
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