A 36-year-old Kent man and his estranged wife are facing charges of first-degree rape of a child.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed the charges Oct. 25 against Brian Keith Beston of Kent and Hollie Christine Beston of Burien. The estranged couple also faces charges of first-degree child molestation, sexual exploitation of a minor and dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to charging papers. The child is 4 years old.
The prosecutor’s office is alleging Hollie Beston filmed Brian Beston sexually assaulting the girl, and the images reportedly were sent over the Internet to a man in San Diego.
The two are in custody at the county jail in Seattle, each on $500,000 bail. They are scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 10.
Seattle Police arrested the couple Oct. 23 after the FBI forwarded information to the officers about a case involving Richard Hockaday, a 38-year-old man facing child-molestation charges in San Diego.
Hockaday told federal investigators that he met the couple over the Internet through a Craigslist advertisement when he posed as a single mother who wanted to meet other single parents in Seattle or San Diego.
According to charging papers, Brian Beston responded to the ad through e-mail and introduced Hollie Beston to Hockaday through e-mail and instant messaging.
The couple started to exchange child pornography with Hockaday, including images of the 4-year-old girl engaging in sexual acts. During one incident, Brian Beston reportedly turned on his computer Web cam and performed sexual acts with the girl that Hockaday watched.
Brian Beston told police that he had ongoing sexual abuse of the girl approximately once or twice per week from June through early October of this year. He also admitted to taking photos and video of the sexual abuse and sending them over the Internet.
Hollie Beston told police she assisted her ex-husband with the sexual abuse of the girl and took photos and video of the abuse.
Detectives served search warrants on the homes of the couple and removed computers, cameras, flash drives, cell phones and other items.
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