Puyallup Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Child Sex Abuse Images

Puyallup man sentenced to 15 years for child sex abuse images production and possession

A 23-year-old Puyallup man was locked away for a long time today after a federal judge found him guilty of producing and possessing images of child sex abuse. Shawn Stone, 23, of Puyallup, Washington, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

Stone was arrested at Sea-Tac airport in August 2022, as he returned from a family trip to Germany. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones delivered a harsh verdict, stating, “The damage to young children doesn’t stop, it goes on a lifetime…. Their pain continues and their suffering continues.”

The FBI identified Stone as a person sharing images of child sex abuse on an online platform in the summer of 2022. When stopped and arrested at the airport, Stone admitted to sexually molesting children in Germany on a 2019 trip. Stone filmed that abuse, producing some of the images that were later disseminated online. He also admitted acquiring and sharing images involving the rape and torture of very young children.

Stone pleaded guilty in January 2024, and following his prison term, he will be on 25 years of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender. At a future date, Judge Jones will determine the amount of restitution Stone owes the various victims depicted in his collection of images of child sex abuse. More than 20 victims have filed claims which still must be reviewed by attorneys involved in the case.

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Washington State Patrol, Tacoma Police Department, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, Washington Department of Corrections, and US Army. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matt Hampton.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.