A King County Superior Court judge added four years to the prison sentence of Darrell Buckland after resolving his latest child molestation case tied to his years inside a Redmond congregation. The new ruling pushes his total minimum prison term to 12 years, closing out a case that has stretched across more than three years of arrests, admissions, and a church community grappling with how long warning signs went unheeded.
According to KOMO News, Buckland had already been sentenced in September 2024 to an eight-year minimum term after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree child molestation involving five boys under age 12. That earlier plea covered abuse that occurred in Redmond between 2016 and 2022, and the station's report on the latest hearing describes the four-year addition as resolving his latest case.
Court documents and police records cited in the same report show that Redmond police officers were once called to the LDS chapel during a Sunday service after congregation members reported seeing Buckland grope a young boy — though officers said at the time they lacked sufficient evidence to make an arrest. That contact came years before the case that eventually sent him to prison, underscoring how long concerns about his behavior circulated within the congregation before charges were filed.
A Pattern Dating Back More Than a Decade
Those concerns reportedly stretch back even further. Statements from a former bishop, detailed by FLOODLIT, indicate that church members raised issues about Buckland's overly friendly behavior with youth around 2010 — roughly 12 years before his arrest. He was released from the Primary teaching role around 2011 or 2012, and was not a Primary teacher when the first alleged crimes occurred; he never served as a scout or youth leader or in a leadership position in the ward.
Charging papers filed in King County Superior Court, also detailed by the same outlet, showed that Buckland admitted to police he had sexually abused six to eight boys, and he offered to identify additional victims in exchange for a favorable plea deal — an offer prosecutors rejected. During questioning, he claimed the victims had initiated the contact, according to the same filings.
The criminal case unfolded in stages. Buckland was arrested three separate times between December 2022 and April 2023 as additional victims came forward, beginning with a December 2022 arrest for molesting a 7-year-old boy during a 2022 Thanksgiving gathering, per the Redmond Police Department. He posted bail twice before being re-arrested on a $500,000 bond, with his final arrest on child molestation charges landing on April 11, 2023.
What Washington Law Means for His Release
Buckland was charged under RCW 9A.44.083, Washington's first-degree child molestation statute, which covers sexual contact with a child under 12 by an offender at least 36 months older. The Washington State Legislature classifies the offense as a Class A felony.
Because Class A felony child sex crimes carry indeterminate sentences in Washington, Buckland's prison term functions as a floor rather than a fixed release date. State sentencing rules pair a court-imposed minimum with lifetime community supervision once an offender is released, according to the Washington State Department of Corrections. The Indeterminate Sentence Review Board determines how long Buckland remains in prison.
Both Buckland and the boys he admitted to abusing were affiliated with the same Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation in Redmond, according to court records referenced in coverage of the case.
