A Deming, Washington man, Robert J. Howell Jr., has been handed a sentence of more than 13 years in prison for his crimes involving child sexual abuse imagery. The 47-year-old received a 160-month prison term for two federal felonies: receipt and possession of such illegal material. These felonies were substantiated with evidence following a two-day jury trial in April 2025, where after about an hour of deliberation, the jury found Howell Jr. guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.
U.S District Judge John C. Coughenour, in imposing the sentence, stressed the serious nature of the crime citing the "quantity and violent nature of the child sexual abuse material," as well as Howell Jr.'s "complete lack of contrition," and deemed him a danger to the community, the actions of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were instigated in late 2019 after a tip-off from a foreign police organization pointed to Howell Jr.'s IP address as one associated with a website housing such reprehensible content, which ultimately led to the seizure of several dozen electronics from his residence and more than 90,000 files depicting child exploitation were discovered. Howell Jr. was convicted of both receiving and possessing these materials over a period spanning three years, from 2016 to 2019.
Howell Jr.'s sentencing also includes an order to pay $141,000 in restitution to the 47 child victims who were subject to exploitation in the imagery recovered during the federal investigation. After his release from prison, Howell Jr. will be placed under a closely monitored twenty years of supervised release, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Homeland Security Investigations took the lead on this case, backed by the nationwide initiative Project Safe Childhood, which aims to combat the growing problem of child sexual exploitation. The initiative brings federal, state, and local resources together to better locate and apprehend individuals involved in internet-based child exploitation crimes, as well as to support the identification and rescue of victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, individuals can visit the Department of Justice's website. The prosecution of Howell Jr. was managed by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Hampton and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M. Ly.
