Portland man arrested after allegedly traveling to Whatcom County to molest 5-year-old
A Portland, Oregon, man was arrested this weekend after he allegedly traveled to Whatcom County to sexually molest a 5-year-old girl.
Dirk Walter Tichgelaar, 44, was arrested Jan. 25 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Tichgelaar was charged Monday, Jan. 27, with enticement of a minor in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle.
According to the complaint in federal court, between October 2019 and January 2020, Tichgelaar used an internet-based chat platform to communicate about sexual abuse of children, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. Tichgelaar’s screen name contained the word “Pedo,” the release states.
An undercover Homeland Security agent posed as the father of a 5-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy on the internet-based platform. Tichgelaar reached out to the agent and expressed an interest in traveling from Oregon to the undercover agent’s location in Washington to engage in sexual activity with the 5-year-old girl, according to federal court records.
The federal complaint details numerous conversations between the undercover agent and Tichgelaar, in which they discuss the planned sexual abuse of the 5-year-old girl, court records show. In addition to chatting on the internet-based platform, the pair exchanged several emails and photographs, the records state.
At one point during the chats, Tichgelaar made plans to travel from Oregon to Washington but canceled those plans.
“However (Tichgelaar) continued to chat with the (undercover agent), often initiating the chats, and expressing an interest in meeting and raping this fictitious young girl,” the court records state.
In making plans to meet with the “father,” Tichgelaar said he would “have to go find her something elsa :),” to which the undercover agent replied that “she would love that,” court records state.
In a followup email exchange, the undercover agent gave Tichgelaar an address in Whatcom County to meet at, the records state.
On the morning of Jan. 25, Homeland Security agents watched Tichgelaar’s Portland home and truck. The agent then followed Tichgelaar from Oregon into Washington state, the records state.
Tichgelaar arrived around 2:30 p.m. at the agreed-upon meeting location. The “father” then called Tichgelaar and gave him an address for a hotel in Whatcom County to meet at, the records state.
Tichgelaar arrived at the hotel at 4:30 p.m. and the undercover agent met him in the lobby. Tichgelaar had a brown paper bag with an “Elsa” dress in it as a gift for the 5-year-old girl, according to court records.
Tichgelaar went to a hotel room with the undercover agent and was arrested.
During an interview with Homeland Security agents and a detective from the Bellingham Police Department, Tichgelaar admitted he was the internet chat user who was exchanging messages and emails with the undercover agent. Tichgelaar said he saw child pornography on the internet-based meeting platform where he met the undercover agent posing as the father, according to court records.
Tichgelaar said he didn’t expect there to be evidence of child pornography on the devices at his Portland home, because “he regularly used cleaning software to wipe his digital media,” the records state.
Tichgelaar said he had previously received and finished treatment for his sexual attraction to children, and admitted that he knew what he spoke to the undercover agent about was illegal, according to court records.
“Tichgelaar explained his online activities as being a fantasy and said that this was the first time he had acted on the fantasy,” the court records state.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, the release states.
Resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, you can contact the following local resources for free, confidential support:
▪ Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.
▪ Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.
▪ Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.
▪ WWU Consultation and Sexual Assault Support Survivor Advocacy Services: 360-650-3700 or wp.wwu.edu/sexualviolence/.
▪ Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org.
This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 3:38 PM.
