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December 5, 2013Seattle, United StatesChild Exploitation

Seattle-area child rapist sentenced to 15 years on child pornography charges

SEATTLE — A Tacoma man convicted in 2001 of first-degree child rape was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison and 25 years' supervised release for possession of child pornography.

David Lloyd Beavers, 42, pleaded guilty in September to the child exploitation charge, following an undercover Internet probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

According to the plea agreement, Beavers frequented a Russian photo sharing website investigators say is regularly visited by users interested in discussing and viewing child pornography. It was through the site that Philadelphia-based undercover HSI special agents befriended Beavers. Conversations between the undercover agents and Beavers included discussions about his 2001 Snohomish County conviction for first degree child rape, and how he had abused at least five other victims between the ages of 5 and 14. He was arrested in June when special agents with HSI Seattle executed a search warrant at his Tacoma residence. During the search, they seized a laptop that contained several images of depicting child sex abuse.

"This investigation revealed what we find all too often in these cases, that child pornography suspects are frequently involved in the actual sexual abuse of children," said Brad Bench, special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. "HSI places a high priority on these cases because children have the right to be safe from predators."

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.

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