Child Rapist Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

Spokane– Joseph H. Harrington, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Larry Joseph Fraley, age 58, of Spokane, Washington, was sentenced after having previously pleaded guilty on April 13, 2017 to Possession of Child Pornography. Chief United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Fraley to a ten-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by a twenty-year term of court supervision after he is released from Federal prison. In addition, Fraley agreed to forfeit to the United States the computer he used to possess child pornography images. Upon release from prison, Fraley will be required to register as a Sex Offender.

According to information disclosed during the court proceedings, at all times relevant to the investigation of this case Fraley was on supervision with the Washington State Department of Corrections (“DOC”) as a result of his 1991 conviction for First Degree Rape of a Child in King County Washington. On August 29, 2016, DOC officers were conducting a review of Fraley at a halfway house on Dean Ave. in Spokane. The officers observed Fraley looking at images on his computer of prepubescent boys engaged in sexual activity. DOC officer contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI interviewed Fraley and he admitted searching the internet for child pornography images of young boys. The FBI seized Fraley’s computer and forensically examined it. Forensic examination revealed Fraley had approximately 287 images of child pornography on his computer. The child pornography images included photographs of minors under the age of twelve years and involved material that portrayed sadistic or masochist images.

Joseph H. Harrington stated, “The sentence handed down in this case provides just punishment for this offense and I commend the excellent work of the law enforcement officers with the Washington State Department of Corrections and the FBI. Prosecuting offenders who possess child pornography is one of the priorities of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington. This Office will continue to prosecute aggressively and seek appropriate punishment for child pornography crimes.”

This case was pursued as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the United States Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States 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 individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. The Project Safe Childhood Initiative (“PSC”) has five major components:

• Integrated federal, state, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases, and to identify and rescue children;

• Participation of PSC partners in coordinated national initiatives;

• Increased federal enforcement in child pornography and enticement cases;

• Training of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents; and

• Community awareness and educational programs.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

This investigation was conducted by the Washington State Department of Corrections and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Stephanie J. Lister, an Assistant United States Attorney and PSC Coordinator for the Eastern District of Washington.