A 57-year-old Kent man faces sexual exploitation of a minor charges for allegedly videotaping a young girl in the bathroom of his home.
James C. Rivers is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 27 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Rivers was booked into the county jail on Oct. 9 and released the next day after posting $300,000 bail, according to jail records.
Kent Police arrested Rivers on Oct. 9 at his Sumner workplace. An FBI office in Ohio notified Kent Police that a computer forensics agency had discovered child pornography on a laptop Rivers sent to the company to remove all pornography because he did not want his wife to divorce him over the pornography, according to charging documents.
Rivers reportedly overnighted the computer via FedEx to the Ohio company on Oct. 6. When a technician examined the computer he found two videos that appeared to depict child pornography. The company then took the laptop to a local FBI office to file a complaint. The FBI took custody of the laptop.
Rivers allegedly used his cellphone to videotape the girl on two occasions as she used a shower and bathtub and later downloaded the videos to his laptop.
During an interview with a Kent detective, Rivers reportedly admitted to the videotaping. He said he hid his cellphone in the bathroom to record the girl. He claimed he recorded her in an effort to find out if she was responsible for using excessive amounts of shampoo, according to charging papers.
Detectives received a search warrant to go through the home of Rivers. During the search detectives talked to the wife of Rivers who told them she had an argument with her husband shortly before he sent away the laptop where she threatened to have his computer forensically checked for child pornography.
Rivers then called a computer forensics company in a panic to request service and wipe the hard drive, according to charging papers.
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