Bellingham man charged with four felonies related to child sexual abuse material
A Bellingham man has been charged with four felonies related to the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
Officers with the Bellingham Police Department arrested Joseph Edward Mallahan, 62, Nov. 6.
A detective with the King County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation in late February following a CyberTipline alert from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The tips came from the electronic service provider Kik, which reported that a user later identified as Mallahan had uploaded several files depicting child sexual abuse and shared them via private messaging, according to court records.
In the chat logs, Mallahan made statements about liking child sexual abuse material and chatted with a user who identified herself as a 13-year-old girl. He also identified himself as a man from Bellingham.
After the detective confirmed Mallahan’s identity, the case was reassigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force on April 23. By then, Kik had reported two more CyberTips related to the same user, court documents state, bringing the total to five. Two additional tips were reported in July.
A total of 98 files depicting child sexual abuse material were uploaded by Mallahan to Kik and shared with other users, according to court records. Mallahan also wrote in one message that he has “lots of videos to trade,” and said he uses Telegram, Venmo and Cash App — all of which led detectives to believe he was paying for and trading videos with those who talked to on Kik.
Mallahan has been charged with three counts of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and one count of dealing in depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, all felonies. He pleaded not guilty to all charges, and remains in custody at Whatcom County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bond.
Report child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or call 800-843-5678.