Case No. 14-1-06789-1 via King County Clerk’s Portal
On December 29, 2014, an engineer named Rick Allen Jones was arrested outside of Bill & Melinda Gates’ Medina home, faced with charges of child pornography.
Only three local news websites shared this story :
KIRO-7 : Man arrested at Bill Gates' estate for reportedly trading child porn
KOMO News : Police: Bill Gates' estate staff member traded child porn by Gmail
Seattle PI : Police: Bill Gates’ estate staff member traded child porn by Gmail
Through an archived search, no other news outlets, Local or National, contain this story. Child Pornography cases rarely break the surface unless they’re tied to a larger raid, releated to someone specific like a teacher/pastor/celebrity, or odd/violent cases. But, with an arrest taking place outside of Bill Gates’ home, based on his name alone, it deserves more recognition.
Investigators became aware of Jones after he shared a suspicious photo through Google's email service. According to charging papers, the photo captured the sexual exploitation of two pre-teen boys.
According to King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, Jones’ case was flagged by The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Internet companies have worked with the The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to create a database of child pornography pictures. Each one of those is given a unique numerical number like a fingerprint, known as a "hash" in the tech world. When Google scans Gmail or the web, it is looking for those fingerprints. If Google finds one, it is legally obligated to report it.
Investigators tracked the image to Jones’ Ballard apartment, which they searched. Jones was not there at the time. Through both King County and Seattle Municipal Courts, a warrant never existed for this search of Jones’ residence.
Detectives have since reviewed electronics seized from Jones’ apartment. They claimed to have found 6,495 images known to law enforcement to be child pornography, including 133 in which the children abused on camera have been identified by police.
Through both King County and Seattle Municipal Courts, a warrant never existed for this seizure and search of Jones’ digital property.
Search & Seizure in Washington State : In *State v. Nordlund, 113 Wn App. 171, 182–84, 53 P.3d 520 (2002) - generalized statements about the computer habits of sex offenders are insufficient to justify search of defendant’s personal computer
On December 29th, 2014, Rick Allen Jones was formerly charged with Possession of Depictions of a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct in the First Degree
In criminal cases involving child pornograhy in King County that took place between 2014 to 2015, an arrest warrant from the Sheriff is included in the court docket. Except this case. It doesn’t exist.
On June 16th, 2015, Rick Allen Jones was found guilty of two charges.
1 - Ct 1: Felony - 9.68A.070(2) POSSESS DEPICT MINOR-SEX CNDCT-2 on 12/29/2013
2 - Ct 2: Gross Misdemeanor - 9.68A.080 FAIL RPT MINOR IN SEX EXPL MAT on 12/29/2013
Sentencing - 90 days in jail and required to register as a sex offender
A DOC number cannot be found at all regional jails around King County and through three levels of searching, there was no evidence of Rick Allen Jones being a registered sex offender.
National Sex Offender Search : NEGATIVE
Washington State Sex Offender Search : NEGATIVE
King County Sex Offender Registry : NEGATIVE
According to Seattle Police, they have a 2000+ page document on file related to this case. I’m sure 90% of it is indexing/describing the images, but they won’t release it, thus violating the Washington State Public Records Act.
Also according to Washington State law, the record cannot be sealed or conviction vacated due to the charges.
A person convicted of a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor who has completed all the terms of the sentence, may apply to the court of record for a vacation of the conviction.
The offense must not be:
A violent offense, as defined in RCW 9.94A.030, or an attempt to commit a violent offense; A violation of RCW 46.61.502 (driving under the influence), RCW 46.61.504 (physical control of a vehicle while under the influence), RCW 9.91.020 (operating a railroad, steamboat, or vehicle while intoxicated), or the offense is considered a “prior offense” under RCW 46.61.5055 and there is a subsequent alcohol or drug violation within ten years of the date of arrest for the prior offense or less than ten years has elapsed since the date of the arrest for the prior offense; A violation, including attempt, of chapter 9.68 RCW (obscenity and pornography), chapter 9.68A RCW (sexual exploitation of children), or chapter 9A.44 RCW (sex offenses), excluding RCW 9A.44.132 (failure to register as a sex offender); or An offense involving domestic violence in some circumstances and as described in RCW 9.96.060(2)(e).
Many news outlets claim he was an engineer with Microsoft. I cannot find any reference to that anywhere.
A lot of people have circled around to dead ends over the years. My theory is that Rick Allen Jones was used as a smokescreen for the real arrest on December 29th, 2014.
Case No : 14-1-07259-3
State vs. Kevin Michael Brunson with 3 counts of Possession of Depictions of a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct in the First Degree.
He was a Senior RF Engineer at the time, working in Redmond and his life somewhat stops moving forward after his child porn cases in 2014/2015.
And while digging through Seattle's dark past, I stumbled upon Gary Little, a judge accused of sexual contact with underage boys (including while part-time teaching at Lakeside School).
This was included in that article.
concern was expressed that indicators of possible wrongdoing by Little had been covered up by Seattle's historically cloistered social and political elite.
I believe history repeated itself here with Gates' covering up something malicious.