EVERETT — A veteran Snohomish County judge refused to show a child rapist any leniency, saying the Marysville man treated his 6-year-old stepdaughter like a “sex toy” when he raped her and offered her up to other pedophiles.
Superior Court Judge Linda Krese on Wednesday sentenced the man to a minimum of 27 years in prison. The man, 57, will have to convince the state’s Indeterminate Sentence Review Board he is safe to be released.
That may be impossible given the man’s egregious behavior against the child — some of the worst she has seen in her 22 years on the bench, Krese said.
“There was no recognition that she was a human being. You treated her like an object,” the judge said. “There was such a complete lack of consideration for the child’s welfare.”
The girl’s mother, 34, remains charged with multiple sex crimes, including child rape. Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Elise Deschenes plans to tack on more charges if the case proceeds to trial, now scheduled for September.
The Herald is not publishing the parents’ names to protect the identity of the girl and her younger brother. Child Protective Services removed the children from the home after the couple was arrested in November.
The man, who leaned up against the bar throughout Wednesday’s hearing, declined to say anything. His attorney told the judge that he recognizes his “actions were not normal and will have far-reaching consequences for the victim.”
The man pleaded guilty last month to first-degree child rape and child molestation and possession of child pornography. Federal prosecutors are expected to charge him with producing child pornography.
As part of his agreement in Snohomish County, the man is expected to plead guilty to the federal charge. He isn’t expected to serve additional prison time.
Law enforcement caught up with the couple during a multi-state child pornography investigation. Detectives in Florida uncovered evidence that the Marysville man was sending child pornography to a man in Texas. He had answered a Craigslist ad and the two exchanged email. The conversation centered on plans to meet up in Marysville so the pair could sexually abuse the man’s 6-year-old daughter. They also talked about raping the Texas man’s daughter. The Marysville man wrote the Texas man that he and his wife had met up with other men and their young daughters.
The Texan was indicted on federal child pornography charges in his home state.
Detectives traced 190 Craigslist ads to the Marysville man’s email address. They also recovered sexually explicit photographs of the girl. A video shows the girl being abused by an unknown man while her mother played a game on her phone.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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