1 child rescued, 3 charged in Portland-area child exploitation case

PORTLAND, Ore. — Three Portland-area residents appeared in federal court Wednesday on child exploitation charges following their arrests Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The arrests of James Lee Hickerson, 35, his father Neil Lee Hickerson, 56, both of Greshem, and his girlfriend Carolyn M. Knudsen, 28, of Camas, Washington, stem from an Interagency Child Exploitation Prevention Team (INTERCEPT) investigation. As a result, law enforcement identified and rescued a young child in Camas, who, evidence revealed, had been sexually abused.

Investigators served a search warrant at the Hickersons' residence Aug. 10. At the time they believed they had one suspect involved in child exploitation. Court documents state, however, that during questioning at his residence, James Hickerson admitted to sexually abusing Knudsen's child, in both Washington and Oregon, and taking screen shots of his girlfriend abusing her child during video chats. Neil Hickerson, a registered sex offender, told investigators that he and his son watched child pornography videos together. Following the search, investigators visited Knudsen who confirmed James's account of the abuse. Child Protective Services was called in to take custody of the young child.

On the charge of with receipt and possession of child pornography, James faces a mandatory minimum of five years' incarceration and up to 30 years. Because of his previous conviction related to abusive sexual conduct of a minor, Neil faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography and up to 20 years. Knudsen is charged with production of child pornography and aiding and abetting. She is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, and up to 30 years.

All three are being held in federal custody pending a hearing Tuesday. A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant should be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being investigated by the INTERCEPT task force and the Camas and Vancouver (Washington) police departments. The INTERCEPT is a task force comprised of investigators from HSI; the Washington County, Clackamas County and Multnomah County sheriff's offices; the Oregon Department of Justice. This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon.

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.