Kirkland man sentenced 13 years in connection to 2020 FBI child porn sting

SEATTLE - A 35-year-old Kirkland man was sentenced to 13 years in prison for child pornography and trying to lure a child into sexual abuse.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday that Marcus Lowe was sentenced in the U.S. District Court in Seattle. Lowe was one of four men indicted after an online FBI sting in Sept. 2020. Lowe has been in federal custody since his arrest in Nov. 2020.

According to court records, Lowe used an internet app to communicate with a parent about molesting a 10-year-old child—except the parent was actually an undercover FBI agent. Authorities say when Lowe arrived at the proposed location to meet with the "child," he was met by law enforcement.

Lowe tried to escape from agents, even pinning an officer with his car and injuring them.

When he was finally taken into custody, officers searched his electronic devices and found hundreds of images of child sexual abuse and child rape. A child told law enforcement Lowe had sexually abused them.

Lowe was sentenced to just shy of three-and-a-half years in prison by the King County Superior Court.

"Those who prey on children face significant federal prison time," said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman. "These crimes leave life-long scars on the young and vulnerable. It is entirely appropriate that we use custody time, post sentence supervision and registration as a sex offender to keep our community safe."

In addition to his state sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez ordered the federal sentence with it.

"The impact is lifelong to those victims who are revictimized every time those images are downloaded and viewed. Every single one of those photos reflects a real child, a real victim," said Judge Martinez during Lowe’s sentencing hearing.

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Lowe must serve 13 years in prison, then will be under supervised release for 15 years. Lowe must also register as a sex offender.