EVERETT — A federal judge sentenced a Snohomish County man Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to nearly 22 years for producing images of child sexual abuse and attempted enticement of minors, a press release said.
In July 2023, Bennett S. Park, 43, responded to an online advertisement placed by an undercover Homeland Security Investigation agent, falsely claiming that the agent had two young children who could be molested, according to court documents.
The federal complaint did not specify where Park was from in Snohomish County.
In his response, Park indicated he was actively molesting children between the ages of 11 and 17. Park indicated he wanted to molest the agent’s fictional children but was already meeting a 13-year-old, the release said. Law enforcement put Park under surveillance to identify and protect the 13-year-old. Around 1:45 a.m. Aug. 8, 2023, law enforcement arrested Park just after the 13-year-old got in his vehicle in a residential area of Everett.
After his arrest, a review of his electronic devices showed Park had communicated with dozens of minors. Twenty-three of the minor victims were identified, court documents said. Park convinced them to provide images of sexual abuse through Instagram, Discord, Snapchat, Facebook, Gmail and Zoom platforms. In the plea agreement, Park detailed his crimes with eight different minor victims.
Fourteen Cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were issued by Discord, which resulted in the confirmation of the 23 victims whom Park enticed and exploited between April 2018 and his arrest, the release said.
“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 U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller in the release. “I commend the quick work by law enforcement to intervene before he could molest another child.”
U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez ordered that Park be required to register as a sex offender, the release said. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14 to determine the amount of restitution he owes. Park was fined $3,000 to pay into a fund for victims of child sexual abuse imagery.
Martinez ordered Park to be on supervised release for 20 years after his prison term, the release said.
“By the time you get out, you will be in your early 60s – What will life look like for you?” Martinez said in the release.
Production of child pornography is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. Attempted enticement of a minor is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison.
“Park profoundly harmed countless minors, only several of whom are reflected in the charges brought in this case,” Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson wrote to the court when asking for the 25-year sentence. “He dedicated years of his life to cultivating, grooming, and enticing young girls in an effort to manipulate them to engaging in sexual chatting, sexual acts, and producing sexual imagery for the sole purpose of feeding his pedophilia. The fact that twenty-three victims were identified, and the imagery of countless others remain saved to his devices and accounts, underscores the lengths Park was willing to go to in order to victimize innocent children.”
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and also brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit justice.gov/psc.
Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com; X: @JennaMillikan
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