A 47-year-old Yakima man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after investigators say he told police during a domestic violence response that he had child sexual abuse material saved on his phone. Ricardo Louis Espinosa was sentenced on Sept. 11 following a guilty plea earlier this year to possession of child pornography.
The case traces back to Sept. 8, 2025, when officers responded to a domestic violence incident in Yakima involving Espinosa. According to AppleValleyNewsNow.com, Espinosa pleaded guilty on May 19 to one count of possession of child pornography, months after that initial encounter with officers set the investigation in motion.
During that domestic violence response, Espinosa told Yakima Police Department officers that he had received child sexual abuse material online and had the files saved on his phone, and said he wanted to help law enforcement, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. As reported by NBC Right Now, officers learned during that response that Espinosa said he had “kiddy stuff” on his phone.
What Investigators Found on His Phone
A subsequent search of Espinosa's cellphone turned up 26 videos and 33 images of child sexual abuse material, the station's report states. An investigator also found that Espinosa had requested “samples” through internet messaging services, according to court officials cited in the same account.
The Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations and the Yakima Police Department investigated the case together, per the same account. That joint effort built the case that ultimately led to Espinosa's guilty plea and sentencing.
Prior Convictions and Sentencing Terms
Court records cited by the outlet show Espinosa was previously convicted in 2001 in Sacramento Superior Court for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14. He also has a 2006 conviction in Benton County Superior Court in Kennewick for failing to register as a sex offender, the report notes.
Espinosa was ordered to pay $33,000 in restitution to victims as part of his sentence, according to AppleValleyNewsNow.com. Reports differ on whether the 10-year prison term would be followed by five years of probation or five years of supervised release, and the discrepancy was not resolved in available reporting.
Federal Agencies Involved in the Case
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington reported Espinosa's guilty plea and sentence. A brief search-result snippet from the Justice Department confirms the September 11 sentencing date, though a full text of the release was not available for review.
The case underscores the role that domestic violence calls can sometimes play in surfacing unrelated criminal disclosures, as officers responding to one type of incident uncovered evidence tied to an entirely different set of federal charges.
