Convicted child rapist receives 15-year sentence on child pornography charges
SEATTLE – A registered sex offender previously convicted of raping three young boys was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for receiving and possessing child pornography, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Lawrence McCollum, 62, of Seattle, first caught the attention of law enforcement when an HSI special agent downloaded child pornography files via a peer-to-peer file sharing program linked to McCollum’s residence.
Last December, agents executed a federal search warrant at McCollum’s residence where they located child pornography files on his electronic devices. McCollum later admitted to using file sharing programs to obtain child pornography during a post-Miranda interview with agents conducting the search.
“As a repeat offender, McCollum has proven to be a danger to youth in our communities,” said Steve Cagen, acting special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. “His tactics to remain anonymous were thwarted by our expert investigators who will continue to uncover these crimes and hold those preying on innocent children accountable for their actions.”
McCollum has a history of sex crimes, including the 1987 conviction for raping a 7-year-old boy and a 1991 conviction for raping two male youths, 8 and 11 years old. He was sentenced to 36 and 210 months imprisonment, respectively.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington prosecuted the case.
The charges in this case are a product of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.
Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.
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