‘Violent’ man tried to ‘set up’ registered sex offenders with kids in WA, feds say
A “repeat violent sex offender” convicted of rape in 1988 ran a Telegram group to arrange “pedophilic relationships” while also hosting teenage boys he befriended online at his Washington home, federal prosecutors said.
After 17 years of civil detainment at a facility for accused sexual predators on McNeil Island in the Puget Sound, southwest of Tacoma, prosecutors said Alan Lewis Meirhofer, now 72, “returned to sexually exploiting children via online platforms.”
Meirhofer, of Skagit County, was caught sharing child sexual abuse content online and trying to “set up” his adult friends, other registered sex offenders, with minors, according to prosecutors.
The mother of a teenage boy he’s accused of grooming reported Meirhofer to the police, leading to his arrest in March 2021, prosecutors said.
Now, Meirhofer has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on charges of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington said in a Monday news release.
“Following his release from civil commitment, Mr. Meirhofer adapted his predatory behavior to modern technology,” Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller said in a statement.
His court-appointed federal public defender, Dennis Carroll, declined McClatchy News’ request for comment June 3.
Ahead of sentencing, Meirhofer asked for the 15-year prison sentence sought by prosecutors, a sentencing memo filed by Carroll on Meirhofer’s behalf shows.
In a letter to the court, Meirhofer wrote that he felt “guilt” over his “grievous actions” and that he takes “full and sole responsibility” for child pornography shared over Telegram.
“I understand now what I didn’t see before, is my complicity in this crime,” he wrote.
Telegram, with its “end-to-end encryption” feature, offers a level of privacy for text messages and video calls.
His criminal record
In the government’s sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecelia Gregson labeled Meirhofer as “a prolific child predator who terrorized numerous historical victims.”
Gregson said Meirhofer raped three 13-year-olds in separate attacks in the late 1980s, when he’s accused of also breaking into four homes in Washington.
On July 18, 1987, Meirhofer stalked one 13-year-old boy in Bellingham and discovered where he lived, Gregson wrote in court documents.
Later that night, he cut the home’s phone line, then entered the house, held a knife to the boy’s neck and kidnapped him, according to the filing.
Meirhofer “drove him to a location where he was drugged and repeatedly anally raped,” Gregson wrote.
In 1988, Meirhofer was convicted on charges of burglary, kidnapping and rape, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Two years later, Meirhofer was convicted of first-degree burglary while armed with a deadly weapon and second-degree assault, prosecutors said.
Meirhofer was “civilly committed” in 2000 to McNeil Island’s detention center before his release in 2017, according to prosecutors.
Upon his release, he was registered as a level 3 sex offender in Washington, “the level with the highest risk of reoffending,” prosecutors said.
Afterward, Meirhofer continued to prey on children using platforms like Google and Instagram, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 14 sexual exploitation-related tips linked to him, Miller said. The Telegram group
While the administrator of the Telegram group, Meirhofer groomed teenage boys in Skagit County and invited them to his house, according to prosecutors. Skagit County is about a 100-mile drive northeast from Seattle.
In trying to befriend them, he gave them “gifts,” including alcohol, clothes, food, marijuana and money, prosecutors said.
One boy who visited Meirhofer’s house and “borrowed” his phone discovered Meirhofer shared photos of the teen’s friends in a group chat with other people, as well as child sexual abuse material, according to prosecutors.
Meirhofer was taken into custody after the tip from the teen’s mother, prosecutors said. His electronics were also “seized.”
Investigators learned that his Telegram group chat had two purposes: exchanging child pornography and coordinating relationships “between adults and minors,” according to prosecutors.
While arguing for a 15-year prison sentence, Gregson wrote in the government’s sentencing memo that “Alan Meirhofer represents every parents’ worst nightmare and every child’s boogeyman.”
“Decades of incarceration did not deter him from sexually exploiting children at the first opportunity provided,” Gregson said.
Concerns or suspicions about child sexual exploitation can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline online or by calling (800) 843-5678.
If you suspect a child has experienced, is currently experiencing, or is at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect, your first step should be to contact the appropriate agency. The Child Welfare Information Gateway has a list of state agencies you can contact. Find help specific to your area here.
For additional help, the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline has professional crisis counselors available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in over 170 languages. All calls are confidential. The hotline offers crisis intervention, information, and referrals to thousands of emergency, social service, and support resources. You can call or text (800) 422-4453.
If you believe a child is in immediate danger, please call 911 for help.