A 57-year-old Kent man faces federal charges of two counts of possession of child pornography for allegedly videotaping a young girl in a bathroom at his home.
James Christopher Rivers already had been charged with sexual exploitation of a minor by King County prosecutors. He missed a court date last week on that charge because federal officials had taken him into custody at the SeaTac Federal Detention Center. He was released from the federal prison on Oct. 30 and is on GPS monitoring, according to U.S. District Court records.
Rivers, a former instructor at the Art Institute of Seattle, had a hearing Oct. 30 in district court prior to his release. Federal prosecutors wanted Rivers to remain in custody but U.S. District Court Judge Mary Alice Theiler granted his release with conditions. Rivers is scheduled to return to district court Nov. 7 in Seattle.
Rivers is accused of hiding his cellphone in a bathroom to videotape a young girl in the shower and bath, according to charging papers.
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. An FBI special agent based in Seattle joined the Kent Police investigation because of the potential federal crime of possession of child pornography.
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.
The Kent man paid approximately $4,345 for the Ohio’s company most expensive repair package, according to court documents.
During an interview with a Kent detective, Rivers reportedly admitted to the videotaping. He said he hid his cellphone in a bathroom Kleenex box 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.
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