A repeat offender who was convicted of child pornography offenses in Florida, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to production, possession and distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  Caleb Dean Eccles, 32, also went by the name “Caleb Eckoles” in order to avoid detection of his sex offender registration status.  When sentenced on August 14, 2015, Eccles faces a mandatory minimum 25 years in prison.

According to the statement of facts in the plea agreement, Eccles was convicted in Florida in 2002 of sixty three child pornography offenses and was sentenced to ten years of probation.  He was required to register as a sex offender.  Eccles relocated to the Lake Tapps, Washington area and held his name out to be ‘Eckoles’ to avoid any linkage to his sex offender registration.  Using that name, Eccles volunteered to babysit for families in his neighborhood.  Eccles admits in his plea agreement that he sought to have access to young boys so that he could sexually abuse them and record the sexual abuse using his phone and other electronic devices.

In October 2013, Eccles created an account at a website known for trading child pornography.  Between October 2013 and March 2014 Eccles uploaded sexually explicit images of a 10-year-old boy.  On two different dates in February 2014, Eccles made videos of his sexual molestation of the young boy.

Eccles came to the attention of law enforcement due to an investigation of the website used to trade child pornography.

The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kate Vaughan.