RICHLAND — A West Richland man tried to use at least 14 children to make his own child pornography that later could be shared over the internet.
Trent D. Howard, 50, hid cameras in the bathrooms and bedrooms of his home to capture video footage of minors either fully or partially naked.
The video footage was discovered by federal agents after a search of his home, when they also found more than 100 electronic devices.
Howard was working in Kazakhstan at the time and stayed in the Central Asian country while knowing about the ongoing investigation back home.
Then — three months after a federal grand jury in Eastern Washington indicted Howard in June 2019 — he was arrested by authorities in Kazakhstan and eventually returned to the United States.
His extradition was the first from that country by the U.S., the Department of Justice announced at the time.
The grand jury came back with a superseding indictment in January 2020 that gave Howard a total 15 charges for distribution, receipt, possession and attempted production and production of child pornography.
Howard made his first appearance in a United States courtroom in November 2020.
His recent guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Richland was to one count of attempted production of child porn.
Prosecutors and the defense agreed to a recommended 23-year sentence in federal prison.
Judge Sal Mendoza Jr. will decide whether to accept Howard’s plea agreement at the sentencing hearing scheduled Jan. 6.
Hidden cameras
Federal investigators started looking at Howard when he distributed more than 168 suspected child pornography files to an undercover agent over a publicly accessible, file-sharing network, according to court documents.
“Forensic review of the seized devices led to the discovery of the hidden camera footage and later identification of at least 14 minor victims,” Joseph H. Harrington, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, explained in a news release.
“Production of child pornography is a despicable crime,” he continued. “The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington will continue to aggressively prosecute those who exploit children. I commend our state, local and federal law enforcement partners who investigated this case.”
The case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in Spokane, with assistance from the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children task force based in the Tri-Cities and the Moses Lake Police Department.
One year ago following Howard’s return to this country, Seattle’s Acting FBI Special Agent in Charge Earl Camp credited strong international partnerships in bringing the West Richland man to justice.
“This case is an example of how the FBI will pursue justice beyond American borders and safeguard vulnerable members of our community,” said Camp.
Information about the nationwide initiative, Project Safe Childhood, and internet safety education is available at usdoj.gov/psc by clicking on the tab “resources.”
