A Snohomish County man was sentenced to 262 months in prison for producing child sexual abuse material and attempting to entice minors, according to an announcement from Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Bennett S. Park, 43, was arrested in August 2023 while attempting to pick up a 13-year-old in Everett, Washington. Authorities said Park had communicated with an undercover law enforcement officer about his plans.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez ordered that after serving his prison sentence, Park will be on supervised release for twenty years. Judge Martinez addressed Park at sentencing: “By the time you get out you will be in your early 60’s – What will life look like for you.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Miller commented on the case: “This defendant damaged untold lives – those of his victims and those of their family members, friends and adults who tried but could not keep them safe from a predator lurking on the internet,” Miller said. “I commend the quick work by law enforcement to intervene before he could molest another child.”
According to court documents, Park responded in July 2023 to an online advertisement posted by an undercover Homeland Security Investigation agent who claimed to have two young children available for abuse. In communications with the agent, Park stated he was already molesting children between ages 11 and 17 and expressed interest in abusing the agent’s fictional children.
Law enforcement placed Park under surveillance and arrested him shortly after a real 13-year-old entered his vehicle on August 8, 2023.
A review of Park’s electronic devices showed he had communicated with dozens of minors through platforms including Instagram, Discord, Snapchat, Facebook, Gmail and Zoom. Twenty-three minor victims were identified as having been enticed or exploited by Park between April 2018 and his arrest.
Fourteen Cybertips issued by Discord led investigators to confirm twenty-three minor victims aged ten to seventeen years old whom Park targeted during this period.
Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson requested a 25-year sentence in her letter to the court: “Park profoundly harmed countless minors, only several of whom are reflected in the charges brought in this case. He dedicated years of his life to cultivating, grooming, and enticing young girls in an effort to manipulate them to engaging in sexual chatting, sexual acts, and producing sexual imagery for the sole purpose of feeding his pedophilia. The fact that twenty-three victims were identified, and the imagery of countless others remain saved to his devices and accounts underscores the lengths Park was willing to go to in order to victimize innocent children.”
Judge Martinez also ordered that Park register as a sex offender upon release from prison. A restitution hearing is scheduled for November 14, 2025; additionally, Park was fined $3,000 toward a fund supporting victims of child sexual abuse imagery.
The prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood—a national initiative launched by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child exploitation crimes using federal resources alongside state and local agencies (http://www.justice.gov/psc).
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation into this case.
The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.
