State v. Lorenz

93 P.3d 133, 152 Wash. 2d 22
Washington Supreme Court·Decided July 1, 2004·No. No. 74061-5·Published·Cited by 133 cases

Opinion

Ireland, J.

[25] FACTS

The jury convicted Lorenz of committing the following crimes against her five-year-old daughter, C.: first degree child rape, first degree child molestation, sexual exploitation of a minor; and conspiracy to commit rape, molestation, and, exploitation of a child. The jury convicted Lorenz of committing the following crimes against a 15-year-old female, M.: third degree child rape, sexual exploitation of a minor, and conspiracy to commit crimes of dealing in depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and promoting juvenile prostitution. Only the child molestation charge is at issue in this proceeding.

South Carolina Detective Jeff Vertisch posed as an internet distributor of child pornography while he conducted an undercover investigation on internet child pornography. A Washington resident communicated with Vertisch over a series of e-mails about the purchase and distribution of child pornography. Eventually, the Washington resident offered Vertisch sex with his child escorts in exchange for Vertisch’s marketing of his child pornography collection. The Washington resident stated, in an e-mail to Vertisch, that he operated a child “escort service” with escorts ranging from 5 to 15 years old; that he had a 15-year-old escort named M.; and soon his 5-year-old would be ready for “oral-clients.” One of the e-mails sent to Vertisch included an image of an unidentified child.

Vertisch passed the information along to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Seattle office (FBI). FBI Special Agent Bruce Bennett shared the information with the Puget Sound Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (task force).2 Seattle Police Detective Shannon Anderson headed the investigation. The task force tracked the IP [26] (internet protocol) address that sent the e-mail to Merle “Rick” Holdren, a Federal Way resident.3

The task force contacted the Department of Social and Health Services and learned that Holdren lived at the address with a woman named Pamela Lorenz. Lorenz has two children, C., age five, and L., age nine. The task force also learned that Holdren had two active felony warrants. Based on the information obtained from Vertisch and because C.’s age matched the age of one of the child “escorts” described in the e-mails, a search warrant was obtained to search the premises.

On October 30, 2000, Detective Anderson, Port of Seattle Detective Roling, Special Agent Bennett, and other members of the task force served the search warrant on Lorenz’s trailer home. The task force members entered a trailer in complete disarray. Holdren was arrested for the outstanding warrants. Holdren was advised of his Miranda rights. Lorenz was also arrested for a drug violation when detectives found her trying to hide methamphetamine under her bed. C. and L. were taken by officers to the prosecutor’s office.

After Holdren and Lorenz were taken into custody, the task force searched the trailer. Some of the items found were (1) books on pedophilia and incest, (2) child pornography magazines, and (3) several cameras and undeveloped film rolls. The task force also found a document advertising a service entitled, “Ultimate Fantasies” which was signed, “Sincerely, Rick & Pam, Service Representatives.” In the computer desk the task force found more incest and pedophilia literature. The task force seized the computer found in the trailer. The computer contained approximately 400 sexually explicit images of children, videos of children engaged in sex acts, and numerous articles on pedophilia, incest, and sexual activity.

[27] While the search of the trailer took place, C. was interviewed by Nicole Farrell, a child interview specialist, at the King County Prosecutor’s office. C. told investigators she had participated in sex with Lorenz (her mother), and Holdren. C. stated, “we went in to do sex with each other” and “we started doing sex with Mom [Lorenz] and Rick [Holdren], all three of us.”

The task force developed film seized from Lorenz’s trailer. There were several shots of Lorenz and another young woman having sex, and a shot of a young child holding a man’s penis. The child in the photograph was wearing a distinctive shirt, and the man had a distinctive scar. The task force believed that C., Lorenz’s daughter, was the child in the picture.

Detective Anderson applied for a second search warrant, hoping to find the distinctive shirt depicted in one of the pictures. On November 3, 2000, the task force returned to the trailer with the second search warrant. Lorenz, who had been released on the drug charges, answered the task force’s knock at the front door. Seattle Police Detective Nate Janes asked Lorenz to step out onto the front porch. Janes did not arrest Lorenz and placed only one restriction on Lorenz — that she was not to reenter the trailer while the detectives searched for the shirt.

During the search, Special Agent Bennett and Detective Roling questioned Lorenz out on the porch. Bennett informed Lorenz that she was not under arrest and was free to leave any time, but was not allowed inside the trailer while the search took place. Lorenz claimed that the officers told her “sit here” referring to a chair they placed on the porch. Lorenz told officers that the 15-year-old in the photographs was her neighbor and that she took the photograph of C. holding Holdren’s penis. Lorenz signed a written statement acknowledging that she was not under arrest and was free to leave at any time; it reads, in relevant part, “I am fully aware that I am not under arrest and am free to leave at any time. [ ] I am also advised that I can stop the following written statement at any time.” [28] Clerk’s Papers (CP) 42. Lorenz’s statement explains that Lorenz educated C. about sex by letting her watch Holdren masturbate (on numerous occasions) and also showing her how to masturbate.

The State charged both Holdren and Lorenz with first degree child rape, first degree child molestation, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree rape of a child, conspiracy to commit rape, molestation, exploitation of a child, and conspiracy to distribute pornography. Lorenz and Holdren were tried separately.

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State v. Lorenz, 93 P.3d 133, 152 Wash. 2d 22 (Wash. 2004).

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