Four Kent Police detectives led an investigation into a sexual crime case that resulted in the sentencing of a 38-year-old SeaTac man to 25 years in prison for federal felonies related to child sexual abuse.
Brandan L. Wilkins, also faces three counts of rape of a child in King County Superior Court for the alleged abuse of a child that reportedly began when the youth was 8 years old, according to charging papers filed by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Wilkins pleaded guilty in February 2021 to the federal charges to travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor; possession of child pornography; receipt of child pornography; and enticement of a minor, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Wilkins posed as a young teen online to pressure youngsters to send him sexually explicit images.
At the March 2 sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour noted that the sexual abuse of minors had occurred over a long period of time, and he said he was “particularly offended” by examples of Wilkins electronic chats with young children where he pressured them to send him sexually explicit images.
“Mr. Wilkins’ pattern of predatory and dangerous conduct left a trail of traumatized children in his wake,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “This lengthy sentence and the lifetime of supervised release imposed, are necessary to protect the children in our community.”
According to records filed in the case, in July 2018 an electronic service provider notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an internet account later linked to the defendant received a video of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The Kent Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations, each part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, investigated the case.
Kent detectives identified Wilkins as the owner of the internet account. A search of his online activity revealed Wilkins was posing as a 13-year-old boy to solicit sexually explicit pictures from young teens. When law enforcement served a search warrant at Wilkins’ SeaTac residence, they seized electronic devices containing thousands of images of child pornography.
When law enforcement searched Wilkins’ wallet, they found a student ID card for a child that Wilkins had befriended. Interviews with Wilkins and the youth revealed Wilkins had traveled with the youth to various locations to engage in sexual activity, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 2009 and 2011, Wilkins traveled with the youth who was then 12-years old to Disneyland and other locations where he engaged in sexual activity with the child. Wilkins admits he posed as a ‘father figure’ for the youth so he could have access to the child. The abuse allegedly began when the child was just 8 years old.
Wilkins told detectives that he was not the child’s father but a family friend who was a father figure.
Wilkins was employed as a TSA agent at Sea-Tac Airport. He has been in custody since his arrest in December 2018. King County officials are in the process of moving Wilkins from federal custody into the county jail to face the child rape charges.
If found guilty, King County prosecutors plan to ask for a 25-year sentence for Wilkins to run concurrently with his federal sentence.
In asking for the lengthy federal sentence and lifetime supervised release, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecelia Gregson wrote the following message to the court:
“By sexually exploiting his many victims, the defendant has forever impacted their lives in ways that may have significant long-term health consequences,” Gregson wrote. “What these victims endured at his hands has the potential for severe lifelong psychological consequences to their self-esteem and well-being.”
Kent Police issued a statement March 3 about the case thanking the detective unit for “their tireless work, inter-agency collaboration and sheer will to put a predator of children behind bars.”
“It was a long journey, predicated by hours of grueling work,”according to the statement.
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