Reflected Image of Sticker Leads Redmond Cops to Prolific Child Abuser

It has to be one of the most difficult tasks in criminal investigations.

Last year, a detective and computer forensics investigator were flipping through thousands of images of child pornography they believed were tied to a Redmond man. The images, allegedly found on computers, thumb drives, disks and phones belonging to 45-year-old Benjamin J. Thompson of Redmond, showed pre-pubescent children—some appearing to be younger than 3—engaged in various sexual acts, according to charging documents filed last Thursday in King County Superior Court.

As they were looking through the more than 7,000 of images that allegedly belonged to Thompson, the investigators came across an image taken by someone who was sitting in a car and pointing a cell phone camera toward a rear-view mirror, capturing a photo of a partially nude child seated behind him. On the back of the phone, they spotted what appeared to be a sticker with a name and phone numbers on it.

Using special software equipment to digitally enhance the sticker, the Redmond investigators uncovered the name "B McOwen" and nine digits of the 10-digit number.

They eventually linked the name and phone number to Barry McOwen, a 66-year-old Pennsylvania man who pleaded guilty to various child sex abuse charges last week. McOwen, who was accused of repeatedly drugging and raping three young girls over the course of five years, was sentenced to between 50½ and 100 years in prison.

The two local investigators who cracked the case flew to Pennsylvania last week to testify at a criminal hearing for McOwen, according to Redmond Police spokesman Jim Bove. 

Bove said it's "definitely rare" for a local investigation to lead to such a huge break in a case so far away. But he added that ongoing technological developments are making it easier for detectives to draw these kinds of connections.

“Once you make one arrest, sometimes the dominos can start falling," He said. "It’s disgusting, it’s sick, it's gross, but we hope in making these arrests that some additional people will come forward if they know anything about these cases.”

In June 2011, Redmond Police forwarded the image with the name and cell phone number to Pennsylvania authorities—along with 1,500 pages of an online chat log between Thompson and McOwen. McOwen, who resided near Philadelphia, was standing trial on 651 charges when he to several counts last week.

Thompson, meanwhile, was arrested earlier this month and faces four first-degree counts of possession and dissemination of child pornography. His arraignment is set for July 25; if convicted, Thompson faces 87 to 116 months in prison.

The case was initiated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after Yahoo reported an attempt to upload "numerous" images of child pornography at an IP address associated with Thompson's Redmond apartment, according to charging documents.

Redmond Police obtained a search apartment for Thompson's residence in March 2011. They seized computers, thumb drives, CDs, memory cards and cell phones containing more than 7,000 photos and videos of children engaged in sexual acts, according to charging documents.

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Case timeline

• January 2011: Thompson allegedly attempts to upload 143 images to a Yahoo! Groups account under the user name "pantyboy3966."
• March 2011: Redmond Police execute a search warrant on Thompson's Redmond apartment, finding more than 7,000 images of child pornography, according to charging documents.
• June 2011: Redmond Police discover the cell phone photo with McGowen's name and an associated phone number. 
• June 13, 2011: McGowen is arrested and his Montgomery County home searched.
• July 6, 2012: Redmond resident Benjamin J. Thompson is arrested on suspicion of possession of child pornography.
• July 10, 2012: Facing 651 charges of child rape and related crimes, McGowen unexpectedly pleads guilty to some of the charges and is immediately sentenced to between 50½ and 100 years in prison.