A Puyallup man was found at Sea-Tac with child sexual abuse images. Here’s his sentence
A 23-year-old Puyallup man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for producing and possessing images of child sexual abuse following his arrest nearly two years ago at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, authorities said.
Shawn Stone, who pleaded guilty to two counts in January as part of a plea bargain, shared images of abuse on an online platform and admitted to sexually molesting children during a 2019 family trip in Germany, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
Stone engaged in online sexual acts for adult men more than 40 times, beginning at 14 years old, in exchange for lewd material involving children, which he traded like currency, his legal counsel said in a sentencing memo. During the 2019 overseas trip, he took and sent sexually explicit photographs of two young relatives on two occasions and “engaged them in sexual contacts,” the memo said.
Stone was a graduate of basic training in the Army Reserves, according to a letter of support from his mother filed in federal court.
The FBI, which investigated the case with assistance from local authorities and the U.S. Army, identified Stone as someone sharing child sexual abuse images online in the summer 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement announcing the sentencing.
When he was arrested at Sea-Tac following a later family trip to Germany in 2022, Stone was found to be in possession of a “great number” of child sexual abuse images, and more were found on devices in his home, the defense sentencing memo said.
Upon completion of his prison term, which his defense had recommended to also be 15 years, Stone will be on supervised release for 25 years and required to register as a sex offender. It has yet to be determined how much in restitution he will owe victims depicted in his collection of images, but more than 20 victims have filed claims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In his defense sentencing memo, Stone was said to be cognitively delayed, mentally immature and isolated, and someone whose world view was distorted by pornography from an early age.
“There is no question that these are very serious offenses that have had a very harmful impact on the minors involved,” the memo said. “Mr. Stone recognizes that harm and truly regrets how his selfish behavior impacted these innocent children.”
At Stone’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones referenced the victims of Stone’s crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“The damage to young children doesn’t stop, it goes on a lifetime,” Jones said. “Their pain continues and their suffering continues.”
