Mason County deputies were arrested after reportedly finding child sex abuse videos on a Washington Correctional Center officer’s phone.
MASON COUNTY, Wash. — A Washington State Department of Corrections officer has been arrested after police say they found child sex abuse videos on his phone.
The 42-year-old Mason County man, an officer at the Washington Correctional Center in Mason County, was arrested Tuesday and is expected to appear in court Wednesday afternoon.
The officer has not been charged.
The Mason County Sheriff’s Office began investigating on April 2, when the Robbinsdale, Minnesota, Police Department requested assistance regarding a case involving child sexual abuse material.
As part of the Minnesota investigation, investigators discovered that users of a group on the messaging app Telegram sent a photo of themselves along with explicit photos of children in August and September 2024.
Mason County deputies compared the photo to a corrections officer’s photo with the Washington State Licensing Department and said it was a match.
Deputies interviewed correctional officers Tuesday. He said he used Telegram but denied posting child sex abuse material, claiming he “must have been hacked”.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the officer’s home and electronic equipment. Corrections officers gave deputies the passcode to his phone, and the Sheriff’s Office said they found hundreds of files on the phone, including explicit videos depicting child sexual abuse.
The man was arrested and booked into the Mason County Jail on suspicion of two counts of first-degree possession of a depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct and four counts of trafficking in a depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
