Bellingham man who formed online relationship with minor in Mississippi enters guilty plea
A Bellingham man pleaded guilty Monday in Whatcom County Superior Court to charges related to the exchange of explicit content with a 15-year-old Mississippi girl who he knew was a minor.
Daniel Koval, 46, faces up to 15 years in prison for felony charges of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, a class B felony, and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
Police began investigating Koval in April 2022 after the parents of a 15-year-old girl in Ocean Springs, Mississippi discovered she had a cell phone she wasn’t supposed to have, according to court documents. The girl was communicating on social media with several “much older” men, most often a man on Discord with the username Daddybrad.
The user, later identified by police as Koval, traded sexually explicit texts, photos and videos with the girl, court records state. He acknowledged that he knew the girl was a minor, writing “It’s so hot to think about having an under age gf.”
Police executed a search warrant on Koval’s electronic devices and found 17 other images depicting the sexual exploitation of children. Koval turned himself in to Bellingham police one year after the investigation began.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 5:00 AM.