Eight indicted in child porn cases
Eight defendants – two with ties to law enforcement – have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Spokane that reviewed evidence in six unrelated child-pornography cases, authorities said Monday.
One of the defendants, Kenneth John Freeman, 44, is a fugitive who has been placed on the U.S. Marshals Service “15 Most Wanted” list.
Freeman was indicted last week on two counts, one accusing him of producing child pornography and a second charging transportation of child porn, said U.S. Attorney Jim McDevitt.
Freeman, a former law enforcement officer, jumped bond after his arrest by police in Richland on three counts of rape of a child in the first degree. The suspect previously worked as a patrol officer on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and was a Benton County reserve deputy, authorities said.
In another case, Terry Dallas Griffith, 38, James Dean Fedrick, 56, and Yekateryna Prokhneveskiy, 27, were indicted in a pornography case investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Griffith, now in custody in a federal prison in California, and Fedrick, of Medical Lake, are each charged with attempted production of child pornography, production of child porn and possession of child pornography. Prokhneveskiy, formerly known as Katrina Griffith, is charged with one count of production of child pornography.
Terry Griffith was sentenced in August 2005 to serve 57 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. After he reported to prison in February 2006, Bureau of Prisons officials discovered items in his possession that led to the execution of a search warrant at a storage shed in Spokane Valley.
There, authorities said, they discovered “Griffith’s collection of child pornography,” leading to an expanded investigation that now includes indictments against Fedrick and Prokhneveskiy.
In a case investigated by the FBI, a former Ferry County corrections officer, John Ayers, was indicted on separate counts of receipt and possession of child pornography.
The indictment against Ayers alleges he possessed the child pornography on a Ferry County Jail computer while he worked at the facility in Republic in 2005.
The fourth case developed in New Hampshire as the result of a tip to a pornography task force, authorities said.
The investigation eventually led to Allan Flake, 41, of Spokane, who was indicted on companion charges of receipt and possession of child pornography. Flake, arrested in California, has been returned to Spokane to face the federal charges, authorities said.
A search of the Cheney home of 30-year-old Abraham Daniel Johnson led to the two-count indictment he faces, accusing him of receipt and possession of child pornography. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of four computers.
In the sixth case, Rodney Glen Thomas, 50, of Oakwood, Ohio, was indicted on one count of transporting child pornography in foreign commerce.
Authorities said Thomas was arrested on Feb. 22 as he attempted to enter Canada. He was arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police who detained him until March 1 when he was turned over to U.S. authorities.