Police: Bremerton man accused of child exploitation was being impersonated online

The Bremerton Police Department (BPD) said a man they recently confronted over alleged inappropriate online communication with minors was the victim of criminal impersonation.

On June 14, the police responded to a 911 call from an online group that does their own investigations into child exploitation. The group alleged that a Bremerton resident was having inappropriate contact with a minor.

Officers responded to the man’s home, collected information from the group, and spoke with the homeowner, who BPD said was fully cooperative and willingly provided access to his devices.

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Detectives got search warrants and conducted forensic reviews of the man’s devices. A second warrant was secured for social media.

“After analyzing all available digital evidence, investigators determined [homeowner] was not the source of the alleged communications,” BPD said.

The department said that the IP address was from another state and that a potential suspect had been identified at that out-of-state address.

Bremerton police said the local man is the victim of criminal impersonation and that they have shared their findings with the FBI.

“The public needs to know that Internet-related crimes against children require careful, methodical work to ensure evidence is lawfully obtained and innocent people are not wrongly accused. Bremerton detectives work closely with the Washington State ICAC Task Force and follow strict investigative standards throughout these cases. We appreciate the community’s patience as we worked to conduct a detailed investigation to ensure accountability while protecting the integrity of the investigative process,” BPD wrote.