David Bloom, Seattle minister and homeless advocate, faces child porn charges
Nov 13, 2024, 1:18 PM | Updated: Nov 14, 2024, 5:54 pm
A judge's gavel and a scale. (File photo: Brian A. Jackson, Getty Images)
(File photo: Brian A. Jackson, Getty Images)
A prominent minister and advocate for Seattle’s homeless community is facing charges of sex crimes involving children, specifically possession of child porn.
According to court documents seen by KIRO Newsradio and MyNorthwest, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) charged David Bloom with one count of dealing in and possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct after Seattle Police Department (SPD) detectives claimed they found multiple images of children, some as young as five years old, engaged in sexual acts alone and with adult men and women.
More sexual assault cases in WA: More charges of sexual assault aimed at Sumner basketball coach
Bloom is best known as an advocate for the homeless in the greater Seattle area. On his LinkedIn page, the 82-year-old is described as an American Baptist minister with 40 years of experience on social justice issues. According to his LinkedIn, Bloom directed the Church Council of Greater Seattle from 1978 to 1997 and founded several local organizations that provides shelter, builds housing and organizes social change, including the Downtown Emergency Service Center, Common Ground and the Seattle Displacement Coalition.
On March 7, Microsoft reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a user uploaded multiple files containing depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, according to court documents. In May and August, SPD detectives obtained search warrants to look through IP Address records of internet service provider Comcast. Court documents revealed Comcast provided detectives with Bloom’s name, his North Seattle street address and his phone number.
On Sept. 20, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) arrested Bloom and transported him back to his retirement community condominium where two detectives questioned him, according to the charging documents. The interview was recorded by a police body camera and detectives said Bloom provided them the passwords to a laptop computer and admitted to uploading child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and that he usually deleted the images.
Detectives said, at one point, Bloom thanked them.
“He thanked Detective Stephens and I, and thought it was an intervention since he has been viewing these images for approximately three to four years,” one detective stated in the probable cause documents.
Bloom was booked into the King County Jail and was later charged with the two counts.
More from Luke Duecy: New report of bird flu in WA, sixth case in state since October
Seattle minister faces child porn charges: More on David Bloom
He is a retired adjunct faculty member at Antioch University in Seattle. Bloom also ran for Seattle City Council in 2009, seeking the Position 4 seat. He made it past the primary to the general election, but lost to Sally Bagshaw by nearly 40 points.
Bloom also served as board president for Real Change, a newspaper that advocates for the homeless.
“We are deeply disturbed and saddened to hear about the charges leveled against David Bloom,” Krystal Marx, the executive director of Real Change News, wrote in a statement. “His time on the Board of Directors was 2011-2013, and his last contribution to our newspaper was in April 2012. Mr. Bloom was connected to Real Change’s advocacy through his involvement in the Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness, and we have not been affiliated with him as an organization in over 10 years.
“In the last few years, Real Change has undergone a major change in organizational leadership,” the statement continued. “This has led to greater accountability to our community, our vendors and to the most vulnerable members of our society. We remain committed to our values and mission, and wish justice and healing for the alleged victims impacted by Mr. Bloom – as well as survivors of sexual abuse everywhere.”
KIRO Newsradio and MyNorthwest has reached out to several organizations Bloom was once connected to. But none of them had responded at the time this story was published Wednesday afternoon.
Luke Duecy is a reporter, editor and anchor at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Luke’s stories here. Follow Luke on X, or email him here.
