Brothers accused of having child porn

Two brothers, including a former Columbian contractor, are accused of having thousands of images of child pornography at their home in Vancouver.

William Lee Martin, 41, and Patrick Wayne Martin, 33, appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Friday on suspicion of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. William Martin also is accused of dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Judge Suzan Clark held William Martin in the Clark County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail and appointed Vancouver Defenders to defend him against the charges. She held Patrick Martin in jail in lieu of $20,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Jeff Riback to defend him.

The brothers are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Feb. 13.

Vancouver police began investigating the brothers in April 2012 when the department received information from the Interagency Child Exploitation Prevention Team about an IP address in Vancouver offering child pornography, according to a court affidavit.

One of the files being offered from the IP address showed the sexual abuse of adolescent and preadolescent boys, court papers say.

Investigators traced the IP address to the home of the brothers’ father on Northeast 132nd Avenue in Vancouver. A search warrant was served on the residence, during which William Martin’s and Patrick Martin’s computers were seized.

Patrick Martin confessed that the child pornography on his computer belonged to him, according to court papers.

Analysis of the computers revealed child pornography involving both boys and girls in the form of photographs and video.

William Martin is a convicted sex offender and was a contracted route driver for The Columbian until the termination of his contract with the newspaper on Friday. He was previously convicted of first-degree child molestation, according to court papers.

Patrick Martin has no criminal history, court papers say.