Bellingham man suspected of downloading and distributing child porn online
A Bellingham man was reportedly found with more than 2,000 sexually explicit images and videos depicting children estimated to be no older than 12 years old. The investigation also allegedly found he was distributing child porn files in online chat rooms.
The Bellingham Police Department booked Joshua Tanner Hayes, 21, into Whatcom County Jail June 2 on suspicion of first- and second-degree possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and first-degree dealing in depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Jail records show Hayes is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2020 received four cyber tips from Drop Box of a suspect uploading images of child sexual exploitation to his or her account, according to Whatcom County Superior Court records. In two of the tips, the suspect’s user name reportedly was listed as “Joshua Hayes,” while the other two had a user name of “No Ome” and had a different email address associated.
The tips were initially assigned to the Seattle Police Department, because the IP address in each of the four incidents traced back to a Century Link cable customer in that area, according to documents.
Seattle investigators reportedly found the email addresses from all four tips were related to the same phone number, and Century Link reported the IP address returned to a relative Hayes was living with in Bellingham, documents state. Seattle investigators also viewed and documented the files associated with the tips and confirmed they met the criteria of child sexual exploitation before forwarding its findings to the the Bellingham Police Department, documents state.
Bellingham police confirmed the phone number associated with the four tips was registered to Hayes, documents state.
While the investigation was continuing, another tip was received March 11, 2021, from the Seattle Internet Crimes against Children Task Force after it determined a tip received from an electronic service provider about files uploaded to its platform also were related to Hayes’ email address, according to documents.
On Feb. 1, 2022, Bellingham investigators were notified by a Homeland Security Investigations Task Force officers that it had monitored a chatroom in an undercover capacity and found that users had distributed numerous graphic videos and images of child pornography, including the sexual abuse of young children, documents state. One of the users in that chatroom, reportedly also was linked to the Century Link account in Bellingham that Hayes had been using.
Bellingham investigators were granted a warrant to search the residence where Hayes was living, documents state, and on March 9 they seized several electronic devices.
In an interview with Hayes, he told investigators that he did frequently visit chat rooms that had to do with adult sexual activity and pornography, according to documents, but he denied ever looking at sexual images of children and told investigators he did not think any images of that kind would be on his electronic devices.
But Bellingham computer forensic officers found 1,416 images and 802 videos of child sexual exploitation, according to court documents, and police estimated the children depicted to be 12 years old or younger.
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.
▪ Tl’ils Ta’á’altha Victims of Crime: 360-325-3310 or nooksacktribe.org/departments/youth-family-services/tlils-taaaltha-victims-of-crime-program/
▪ 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.
