Pierce County man sentenced to 15 years in prison for sex crimes involving minors

Seattle - A 40-year-old Pierce County, Washington man was sentenced late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison for attempted enticement of a minor and production of images of child sexual abuse, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Randy Lee Young came into federal custody April 24, 2025. He was arrested November 16, 2024, after allegedly communicating with someone he thought would provide her young daughters to him for sexual assaults. When Young arrived at the proposed meeting place in Marysville, Washington, he was arrested. Forensic review of his cell phone found images of child sexual abuse that he had produced.

At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Lauren King praised the victim's "truthfulness and assistance with law enforcement" and conveyed "hope todays sentencing brings you a sense of some closure" as "the only blame here lies with Mr. Young and Mr. Young alone."

"The community is safer with this defendant off the street," said Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. "Mr. Young made his intentions clear while communicating with the undercover officer. Then when he was arrested law enforcement discovered a 13-year-0ld had already been victimized. This lengthy sentence is the appropriate result."

"Not only did Mr. Young demonstrate he was willing to travel across Washington state to exploit children, but his phone also contained videos of him actually abusing a child on multiple occasions," said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. "We hope this sentence will protect the youth of the Pacific Northwest from Mr. Young for a long time and sends a strong message to other would-be predators that they cannot hide behind supposed anonymity online. The FBI and our partners will pursue these offenders and hold them to account for the lifelong harm they have inflicted on our children."

According to records filed in the case, Young began communicating with a law enforcement officer who was posing as the mother of 8 and 11-year-old daughters. Between November 8 and 15 2024, Young communicated with the law enforcement officer via text messaging multiple times. Ultimately Young drove from his residence in Pierce County to the location in Marysville where he was arrested. Young was held in the Snohomish County Jail until the federal charges were filed.

Young gave permission for law enforcement to review his cell phone. On the phone investigators found images of sexual abuse of a minor. The investigation revealed that in October and November 2024, Young met a minor online, traveled to her hometown in southwest Washington seven times and videotaped sex acts with the 13-year-old. Text messages reveal that the victim had told Young her age.

In her victim statement, the mother of the 13-year-old said, "He stole more than her innocence. He stole her sense of safety, her ability to trust, and parts of a childhood that she cannot get back…. As her mother, one of the hardest parts has been knowing that I cannot go back, that I cannot undo what happened, and that I cannot give her back the innocence and sense of security that were taken from her."

In asking for the 15-year sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court, "The defendant chatted with the undercover officer about his intentions for eight days before showing up to act on his desires. He was provided opportunities to disengage and instead doubled down by informing the undercover he wanted to follow through with his 'fetish'…. (T)here are simply too many individuals wired to abuse children to ever eliminate child exploitation, it is vitally important that these would-be offenders understand the steep cost of acting on their deviant desires. The law must send a clear and unmistakable message of specific and general deterrence - that society simply will not and cannot tolerate such perverted abuse - and those that engage in it, will be met with lengthy custodial sentences."

Juge King ordered Young to be on supervised release for 20 years following his prison term. A separate hearing in February 2027 will determine the amount of restitution owed to Young's victim.

The case is being investigated by the FBI Seattle's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from the Renton Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.

The Justice Department is committed to combating child sexual exploitation. These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.