Former Washington state elementary school vice principal sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography
SPOKANE, Wash. – The ex-vice principal of an elementary school in Coulee Dam was sentenced Monday to seven years in federal prison for receiving child pornography, following a probe the by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the police departments in Seattle and Janesville, Wisconsin.
Nathan Piturachsatit, 38, who formerly served as vice principal of Lake Roosevelt Elementary School, pleaded guilty Nov. 29, 2016. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr. In addition to the prison term, Judge Mendoza ordered that Piturachsatit be subject to 10 years of court supervision and register as a sex offender following his release from custody. The defendant agreed to forfeit the iPhone he used to engage in illicit communications with a minor.
“Prosecuting offenders who entice minors to produce child pornography and receive child pornography is a priority for this office,” said Joseph H. Harrington, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. “This office is, and will continue to be, committed to prosecuting aggressively and seeking appropriate punishment for child pornography crimes.”
According to court documents, in January 2016 an officer with the Janesville Police Department responded to a report from the mother of a 14 -year-old girl who received a suspicious package from the defendant containing a shirt from “Pink,” a sister store to Victoria’s Secret.
Further investigation revealed that, from November 2015 until early January 2016, Piturachsatit had been communicating with the 14-year-old over the Internet using “Instagram” – sending her sexually explicit images of himself and asking the girl, who was a freshman in high school at the time, to send him sexually explicit images and videos of herself.
HSI special agents executed a federal search warrant at the defendant’s workplace and residence Feb. 3. At that time, Piturachsatit admitted sending the minor the package and sexually explicit images of himself. He also confessed to requesting and receiving sexually explicit images and videos of the minor, whom he had been communicating with via “Instagram”.
“We entrust educators to serve as role models for our children and safeguard their welfare. As this sentence makes clear, when that trust is violated, there will be serious consequences,” said Brad Bench, special agent in charge for HSI Seattle. “This case should also serve as a stern warning to those who mistakenly believe cyberspace affords them anonymity and they can use the internet to sexually exploit children with impunity. HSI will continue to work closely with its local law enforcement partners to target those involved in the sexual exploitation of children to ensure they are held accountable for their crimes.”
The charges in this case are a product of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.
Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 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 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.
The case was prosecuted by Stephanie J. Lister, an Assistant United States Attorney and PSC Coordinator for the Eastern District of Washington.
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