Suquamish Tribal Member Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Receipt of Child Pornography

           A 22-year-old member of the Suquamish Tribe was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to six years in prison and lifetime supervised release for receipt of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. NICHOLAS M. ALEXANDER repeatedly pressured and threatened as many as seven young teens in the Poulsbo and Suquamish area to provide him sexually explicit photos and pressured them for sex. ALEXANDER communicated with the girls via Facebook Messenger and via text messages. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan said, “The things that Mr. Alexander has done cannot continue and that is quite clear. These are serious matters.”

          “The teens that this defendant preyed on are the glimmer of good in this sad case,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “The fact that these young people alerted law enforcement ensured that the damage this offender could do was limited. I commend the FBI and their tribal law enforcement partners for their work to ensure justice was done.”

           According to records filed in the case, in April 2015, ALEXANDER messaged various teens attempting to strike up a relationship and making it clear he was interested in sexual contact even though the teens were between 13 and 16-years-old. Various teens ignored his texts, some sent nude photos, at least one sent a sexually explicit image to ALEXANDER. ALEXADER also approached the teens in public settings, following one around a community gathering and pressuring her to come with him to a secluded location. The teen refused and reported the incident to law enforcement. ALXANDERR was arrested on May 12, 2015, and law enforcement recovered a cell phone revealing ALEXANDER communicated with as many as seven young teens pressuring them for sexually explicit images.

          The case was investigated by the FBI, the Suquamish Tribal Police and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amy Jaquette.