Two men sentenced in separate Whatcom County child sexual abuse material cases
Two men were sentenced Wednesday morning in Whatcom County Superior Court on separate charges related to the possession of child sexual abuse material.
Morgan Shane Bernd, 55, of Point Roberts was sentenced to more than five years in prison for three counts of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first degree. Bernd was arrested in October on 17 felony charges following an investigation by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation into Bernd began in April 2024 after Microsoft reported that a user, later identified as Bernd, uploaded child sexual abuse material. Officers reviewed the images and obtained a search warrant, according to court records. They found thousands of images depicting child sexual abuse on Bernd’s computer.
Prosecutor Caleb Nagel said in court that following Bernd’s arrest, “far, far more” depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were found in his possession. He said a detective told him it was one of the largest amounts of child sexual abuse material he had ever seen.
MaryKate Trainor, Bernd’s public defender, said Bernd was “incredibly remorseful.”
“His life has completely changed in light of this,” Trainor said.
Judge Lee Grochmal followed the agreed sentencing recommendation of 61 months in prison, followed by three years in community custody. Bernd will receive treatment in prison and must register as a sex offender.
“These are not victimless crimes,” Grochmal said.
Second sentencing
Grochmal also sentenced Joshua Tanner Hayes, 24, of Bellingham on Wednesday for possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Like Bernd, the investigation into Hayes began following a tip received by the national CyberTipline for reporting the exploitation of children.
Digital file-management company Dropbox reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that between March and June 2020 a user later identified as Hayes uploaded child sexual abuse material to his account.
Another CyberTip from Kik Messenger, a digital text and chat program, reported that Hayes distributed images and videos of child sexual abuse in a chatroom, according to court records. Hayes was arrested in May 2022, and police found more than 1,400 images and eight videos depicting child sexual abuse in his possession.
Due to his age at the time of the crime and lack of criminal record, the state and defense attorney put forth an agreed recommendation of one year in community custody. Hayes will not serve any prison time.
Report child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or call 800-843-5678.