Washington Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor and Producing Child Sexual Abuse Images
A 40-year-old man from Pierce County, Washington, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison for attempted enticement of a minor and production of images of child sexual abuse, Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced. Randy Lee Young came into federal custody on April 24, 2025. U.S. District Judge Lauren King imposed the sentence and ordered Young to serve 20 years of supervised release after prison; a separate hearing in February 2027 will determine the amount of restitution owed to his victim.
According to records filed in the case, Young began communicating with a law enforcement officer who was posing as the mother of 8- and 11-year-old daughters. Between November 8 and 15, 2024, Young communicated with the officer by text message multiple times, believing she would provide her young daughters to him for sexual assaults. On November 16, 2024, Young drove from his residence in Pierce County to the proposed meeting place in Marysville, Washington, where he was arrested. He was held in the Snohomish County Jail until federal charges were filed.
Young gave permission for law enforcement to review his cell phone, and investigators found images of sexual abuse of a minor that he had produced. The investigation revealed that in October and November 2024, Young met a minor online, traveled to her hometown in southwest Washington seven times, and videotaped sex acts with the 13-year-old. Text messages reveal that the victim had told Young her age.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Lauren King praised the victim's truthfulness and assistance with law enforcement and conveyed hope that the sentencing brings her a sense of closure, saying the only blame lies with Mr. Young alone. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said Young made his intentions clear while communicating with the undercover officer, and that after his arrest law enforcement discovered a 13-year-old had already been victimized, adding that the community is safer with the defendant off the street and the lengthy sentence is the appropriate result. W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office, said Young demonstrated he was willing to travel across Washington state to exploit children and that his phone contained videos of him actually abusing a child on multiple occasions.
In her victim statement, the mother of the 13-year-old said Young stole more than her daughter's innocence — he stole her sense of safety, her ability to trust, and parts of a childhood she cannot get back. In asking for the 15-year sentence, prosecutors wrote that Young chatted with the undercover officer about his intentions for eight days before showing up, was provided opportunities to disengage and instead doubled down, and that the law must send a clear message of deterrence that society will not tolerate such abuse.
The case was investigated by the FBI Seattle Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from the Renton Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, the Justice Department's nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Washington 的美国司法部大楼。GSM联邦机构固定图库照片，摄影 APK，CC BY 4.0，来源 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters in Washington. GSM federal fixed image library photo by APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
