A Seattle man employed as an engineer at Bill and Melinda Gates’ home is now accused of amassing a 6,000-image child pornography collection and trading child rape photos by Gmail.
Source: Police: Bill Gates’ estate staff member traded child porn by Gmail – seattlepi.com
Two detectives drove to the sprawling, lakefront estate and met Jones in the estate security office, according to charging papers. They then interviewed him in a parked SUV.
Having been read his rights, Jones claimed he shared child pornography online just once but then admitted he’d been collecting it for years, the Seattle detective said in charging papers.
“Jones said that he had been collecting (child pornography) for about 10 years now and has had an interest in young boys since he himself was a teenager,” the detective told the court.
Detectives have since reviewed electronics seized from Jones’ apartment. They claim to have uncovered 6,495 images known to law enforcement to be child pornography, including 133 in which the children abused on camera have been identified by police. Among the images were photos showing the anal rape of an 8- to 10-year-old boy and a rape of an 8- to 10-year-old girl.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Cecelia Gregson urged that Jones be barred from any contact with children. King County Superior Court Judge James Cayce granted the request and ordered Jones to stay away from all minors.
A Gates spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Jones was charged Monday with possession of child pornography in King County Superior Court. He has not been jailed and has not yet entered a plea.
King County prosecutors say Rick Allen Jones admitted he’d been collecting child rape videos and photos for a decade before police intervened in March. According to police, Jones, 51, was first contacted by police at the Microsoft founder’s estate while working for the billionaire couple.
