Ex-Kent attorney, youth baseball coach gets 25 years in prison for child porn offenses

A former Kent family law attorney and South King County youth baseball coach received a 25-year prison sentence Monday in U.S. District Court in Seattle for production, receipt and possession of child pornography.

David Scott Engle, 50, of Maple Valley, also was sentenced to lifetime supervised release. He pleaded guilty in July after his arrest in November. He has been jailed since his arrest.

Engle volunteered and ran a business involving youth baseball, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office media release. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart took issue with a defense claim that these were not violent attacks.

”Molestation is violence…” Robart said. “Sure, he didn’t threaten to break an arm… but this is violence, let’s be very clear on that.”

“This is a heart-wrenching betrayal of trust of the victims and the community,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “While nothing can undo this damage, the long sentence will protect the community and sends a strong message about the horrendous acts. Our advocates are resolved to do everything possible to support the victims as they deal with the horrific abuse.”

According to records filed in the case, Engle came to the attention of law enforcement following the investigation of an international movie production company that operated a website offering DVDs and streaming videos for sale. The materials depicted young boys in sexually explicit activity.

Between 2005 and 2011, Engle purchased 184 items from the website. The international movie production company was put out of business when agents seized its inventory and records. The company and the owners of the company are being prosecuted for child exploitation offenses, including the production and distribution of child pornography.

After law enforcement executed a search warrant on Engle’s home and storage locker in November 2012, they discovered more than 500 videos of Engle sexually molesting a young boy under the age of 16. Law enforcement later discovered additional evidence of Engle sexually molesting another young boy, also under the age of 16.

Engle is being separately prosecuted for those offenses by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Following forensic examination of a number of computers, DVDs, thumb drives, and floppy disks, investigators determined that Engle was in possession of tens of thousands of images of child pornography, and thousands of videos of child pornography.

In asking for a 30-year prison sentence, prosecutors noted that Engle betrayed the trust put in him by the community.

“To then learn that the defendant had been charged with producing child pornography and molesting children added additional layers of anguish that can never be ameliorated,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo. “To the mothers of Minor Victim 1 and Minor Victim 2, to all of the parents who put their trust in the defendant, to all of the children who called him “Coach,” to all of those involved in Little League baseball for the pure enjoyment of the sport, and to the larger community, the defendant’s criminal conduct is especially monstrous.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The Mount Rainier Baseball Association terminated Engle, a fellow board member, in November of his duties with the Enumclaw-based group that runs teams for players who live in the Auburn, Tahoma, Enumclaw, White River, Carbonado and Dieringer school districts.

Engle also was associated with several other youth baseball groups including the Southern Washington Babe Ruth Leagues, the Mid-Sound Pilots Select Bronco baseball team for 11- and 12-year-olds, and served as president of Maple Valley Pony Baseball and Fast Pitch, which serves kids who live in Maple Valley, Ravensdale, Hobart, Black Diamond, Covington, Kent and Auburn. Engle also was associated with a business named “5 Star Baseball and Softball.”