Child porn suspect extradited to Spokane from China

A man described as “one of the most infamous bad guys” by the TV show “America’s Most Wanted” is scheduled to be arraigned today in Spokane on federal charges of production and transportation of child pornography.

Kenneth John Freeman, who once held the title “Mr. Eastern Washington Bodybuilder,” was arrested in May in Hong Kong after a worldwide manhunt tracked him to China, where he reportedly had been working as a computer consultant for a U.S.-based company.

The pornography Freeman is accused of producing is now considered to be the most frequently downloaded child porn on the Internet, authorities say.

Chinese authorities wouldn’t arrest Freeman because he had a valid visa, but they “monitored his movements” and alerted U.S. officials when he traveled to Hong Kong. He was apprehended on May 1, authorities say. Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the United States.

After the lengthy extradition process, the former reserve deputy sheriff was returned to the United States on Thursday by deputy U.S. marshals who flew to Hong Kong to pick up the suspect in a U.S. government-owned aircraft, U.S. Marshal Michael Kline told a news conference.

The 44-year-old former fugitive was cooperative and talkative during the return trip to Fairchild Air Force Base, the U.S. marshal said. Freeman was booked into the Spokane County Jail as a federal inmate.

He has been featured at least twice on “America’s Most Wanted,” and he also was on the U.S. Marshals Service Top-15 Most Wanted List and a similar wanted list of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Freeman was indicted Jan. 25 in the Eastern District of Washington on the two child porn charges. Two days earlier, he was indicted in the District of Oregon on two counts of sexual exploitation of children and transportation of a minor to produce child pornography.

The federal charge of producing child pornography carries a 15-year minimum mandatory term, according to court documents.

Additionally, Freeman was charged in Benton County Superior Court, in the Tri-Cities, in November 2005 with three counts of child rape and bail jumping.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice said federal prosecutors in Spokane will get the first crack at prosecuting Freeman, who is scheduled to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno at 9 a.m. Because he’s a flight risk and danger to the community, the magistrate judge likely will order him held without bond until the criminal charges are resolved.

Freeman is a former Benton County, Wash., reserve deputy and once worked as a security officer at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

He is accused of producing the child pornography at his home in Richland. Court documents say the abuse began on Mother’s Day weekend in 2000 and continued until approximately July 2001.

The young girl being sexually assaulted on the videotape Freeman is accused of producing is his daughter, who has openly talked about the case, authorities say.

After she appeared on “America’s Most Wanted,” tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children assisted investigators in identifying her as the victim in a child pornography video, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The video is among the most widely downloaded child pornography videos in recent years, investigators say.

Video of the abuse also was discovered on a computer Freeman gave his daughter, who is now 17.

Family members were informed of Freeman’s apprehension and return to the United States, said Adrienne Farabee, the Benton County deputy prosecutor. “They are all very pleased he is back in the U.S.,” she said.

After he was charged with child rape in Benton County in November 2005, Freeman fled, initially to Seattle before leaving the United States.

In a statement given to the Associated Press last week in Hong Kong, Freeman said he “never physically hurt his ‘pretty little tiger’ and hopes other men learn from his mistakes.”