XPost: alt.politics.bush, ne.general, alt.politics.democrats.senate   
   XPost: austin.politics   
   From: aaron@fusewashington.org   
      
   Three elderly brothers were interviewed by Seattle police in   
   2013 after “child erotica” was found on a computer one of them   
   took in for repair. No charges were filed then, but the brothers   
   were charged Monday with possessing images of child-sex abuse in   
   a new investigation.   
      
   By Sara Jean Green   
   Seattle Times staff reporter   
   Back in 2013, 20 images found on a computer used by one of three   
   elderly Seattle brothers included child erotica, but King County   
   prosecutors determined they didn’t meet the standard for filing   
   child-exploitation charges, a spokesman said Tuesday.   
      
   No charges were ever filed against Edwin Emery, now 78, who took   
   the computer in for repair, prompting staff at a computer store   
   to contact Seattle police.   
      
   But police say he did admit to sexually abusing two female   
   relatives, according to charges filed against him and his two   
   brothers on Monday. It appears the statute of limitations for   
   child molestation had long run out by then.   
      
   The images found on the computer in January 2013 depicted “child   
   erotica, nudist-colony activity and several lascivious display   
   images,” say charging documents.   
      
   “The case was reviewed by a deputy prosecutor and ICAC (Internet   
   Crimes Against Children) investigators, and it was determined   
   that the images did not meet filing standards for exploitation   
   crimes against children,” Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for   
   Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, wrote in an email Tuesday about the   
   2013 investigation. “As a result, we would not be able to prove   
   a case beyond a reasonable doubt and charges were not filed.”   
      
   Four years later, a witness provided new evidence, which led   
   Edwin Emery and his brothers Charles Emery, 82, and Thomas   
   Emery, 80, to each be charged with two counts of second-degree   
   possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexual conduct.   
   They remain jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail.   
      
   Seattle police detectives who interviewed the Emery brothers in   
   2013 are involved in the ongoing investigation against them,   
   which was touched off earlier this month when a relative was   
   cleaning out the men’s garage and came across boxes filled with   
   obscene materials, which were turned over to police, say charges   
   filed in the sex-abuse images case.   
      
   Charging papers say the house the three brothers have shared   
   since 1962 was jampacked with sexually explicit images and   
   videos of young girls, along with girls’ clothing, shoes, toys   
   and handwritten notes about girls being kidnapped, raped,   
   tortured and killed.   
      
   Charles Emery was a janitor at Seattle Children’s hospital from   
   the 1970s through the 1990s, according to the charges. However,   
   the hospital said Tuesday his employment had not been confirmed.   
      
   “We are devastated to hear this news, and our hearts go out to   
   the children and families involved,” the hospital said in a   
   statement. “Given the considerable length of time that has   
   passed since Charles Emery allegedly worked here, we have not   
   yet been able to confirm his relationship with Seattle   
   Children’s through our records. We are in communication with the   
   King County Prosecutor on the investigation.”   
      
   There were no signs of police activity on Tuesday at the   
   brothers’ two-story Victorian house on Northeast 59th Street.   
   But charges say members of ICAC, which includes Seattle police   
   detectives and Homeland Security agents, spent 30 hours   
   searching the brothers’ home and detached garage and were also   
   searching a property in Shelton, Mason County, that belonged to   
   their older brother who is now deceased.   
      
   Charles Emery had stored items at the Shelton home and at other   
   locations, the charges say.   
      
   Neighbors who live in the residential area between Green Lake   
   and Wallingford were still in shock about the allegations   
   against the three men, two of whom, according to charges, are   
   suspected of sexually abusing three generations of female   
   relatives and possibly other young girls.   
      
   Even more disturbing was news that Charles Emery, the eldest of   
   the three, allegedly wrote notes about kidnapping, raping,   
   torturing and killing girls.   
      
   “I’m just hoping that’s warped fantasy. It’s going to be   
   devastating if we find out otherwise,” Judy Powell, who has   
   lived in the neighborhood for 21 years, said Tuesday.   
      
   Jen Fox, who lives two doors down from the brothers, said   
   Charles Emery once offered to write her 7-year-old daughter and   
   9-year-old son letters and postcards. Fox quickly nixed the idea.   
      
   “It’s horrific there’s someone my kids have encountered in our   
   neighborhood who has been part of such an investigation. It’s   
   scary,” she said, noting there are three schools and two   
   preschools within a five- or six-block radius of the brothers’   
   home.   
      
   Edwin and Thomas Emery were arrested Friday when they returned   
   home while police were executing a search warrant at their   
   house, the charges say.   
      
   On Nextdoor, a neighborhood social-networking site, people   
   living nearby quickly shared news of the police activity that   
   stretched into Saturday.   
      
   “It’s related to child exploitation. I’ve been sick to my   
   stomach. The brothers are all in jail. SPD is very tight lipped.   
   There’s another crime scene outside the city. That’s all I   
   know,” one resident wrote.   
      
   On Monday, a police detective went to the Queen Anne residential-   
   care facility where Charles Emery was living, apparently due to   
   dementia, charging papers say.   
      
   A sample of his DNA was collected, and police say he claimed the   
   writings found in the house on Northeast 59th Street “were all   
   fantasy,” say the charges. He was transported to jail in an   
   ambulance.   
      
   “Though I do not claim to have a medical understanding of   
   Charles’ memory and mental condition, I do believe Charles   
   understood the nature of my questions and the consequences of   
   his answers. In my opinion, many of the things Charles stated he   
   did not remember or know was based on his desire to not be held   
   accountable,” a Seattle police detective wrote in charging   
   papers. “This opinion is supported by my contact with him in the   
   2013 investigation, and based on my interactions with his   
   brothers, who also demonstrated similar interview-blocking   
   techniques.”   
      
   Information in this article, originally published Aug. 22, 2017,   
   was corrected,Aug. 23, 2017. A previous version of this story   
   gave incorrect ages for two of the three Seattle brothers   
   charged with possession of depictions of minors engaged in   
   sexual conduct. Thomas Emery is 80 years old and Edwin Emery is   
   78.   
      
   News Researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this story.   
   Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com   
      
   http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/new-information-   
   leads-to-child-exploitation-charges-against-3-elderly-brothers/   
            
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)