A Puyallup man was found in Sea-Tac with images of child sexual abuse. Here is his verdict

A 23-year-old Puyallup man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for producing and possessing child sexual abuse images after he was arrested nearly two years ago at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, authorities said.

Shawn Stone, who pleaded guilty to two counts as part of a plea agreement in January, shared images of abuse on an online platform and admitted to sexually abusing children during a family trip to Germany in 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

Stone has had online sex with adult men more than 40 times since he was 14, exchanging explicit material with children for money, his lawyer said in a sentencing memo. During the 2019 trip abroad, he twice took and sent sexually explicit photos of two young relatives and “had sexual contact with them,” the memo said.

According to a letter of support from his mother filed in federal court, Stone had completed basic training in the Army Reserve.

The FBI, which investigated the case with assistance from local authorities and the U.S. Army, identified Stone as someone who shared images of child sexual abuse online in the summer of 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement announcing the verdict.

When he was arrested in Sea-Tac in 2022 after a later family trip to Germany, Stone was found in possession of a “large number” of child sexual abuse images, and more were found on devices in his home, the defense’s sentencing memo said.

After serving his sentence, which his defense also said should be 15 years, Stone will be on probation for 25 years and will have to register as a sex offender. How much restitution he owes to the victims depicted in his image collection has not yet been determined, but more than 20 victims have already filed claims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In his defense memorandum, Stone said he was cognitively sluggish, mentally immature and isolated, and someone whose worldview was distorted by pornography at a young age.

“There is no doubt that these are very serious crimes that have had a very harmful impact on the minors involved,” the memo said. “Mr. Stone is aware of this harm and deeply regrets the impact his selfish behavior has had on these innocent children.”

At Stone’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones referred to the victims of Stone’s crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“The harm done to young children doesn’t stop, it lasts a lifetime,” Jones said. “Their pain and suffering continues.”