Wenatchee man to serve 7 years for possessing child sexual abuse material

WENATCHEE — A Wenatchee man who amassed hundreds of videos and images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his computer was sentenced Thursday to 90 months in prison after pleading guilty to 10 counts of first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Chelan County Superior Court Judge Travis Brandt imposed the sentence on Brandon D. Ebe (also known as Brandon McKee), 42, who pleaded guilty as charged with an open sentencing recommendation; the standard range for the felonies is 77 to 102 months.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Micaela Meadows said the office sought the high end of the range. “We asked for 102 months — the higher end of the sentencing range — because of the large volume of CSAM that local law enforcement found and the especially egregious nature of the material,” Meadows said, noting investigators “recovered over 300 individual CSAM downloads from Ebe’s computer.”

Upon release, Ebe must also register as a sex offender and pay restitution as required by state law of $1,000 per count, or $10,000, with a restitution hearing set for Jan. 5. The prosecutor’s office emphasized that Washington law allows restitution to identified victims in CSAM cases because ongoing circulation of those images continues the harm.

According to prosecutors, the case moved forward because a live-in partner acted immediately after discovering the material. Ebe had been “especially secretive” with his computer use, the partner reported. When she located CSAM videos in his files, she alerted police at once, left the home, and cut off contact. Meadows underscored how uncommon — and important — that response is. “In my experience, the reporting party did something many people never do,” Meadows said. “She recognized immediately that CSAM is not a victimless crime, and because of this, Mr. Ebe is being held accountable today for his actions.” Her decisive choice protected children and advanced a difficult investigation; it is the kind of action that can stop abuse in its tracks and should be a model for anyone confronted with similar evidence.

Investigators also described the scope of the harm. Cpl. Donald Graves of the Wenatchee Police Department, who served as the investigating detective at the time of Ebe’s arrest and spoke at Ebe’s sentencing, said he recognized much of the material on Ebe’s computer from other cases — meaning it had been disseminated and viewed repeatedly. “This particular case will stick with me for the rest of my career,” Graves said. “Just the types of videos, the nature of every single video that I watched was heinous.”

The Chelan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office uses accurate terminology in reporting. Calling the material CSAM — not the antiquated term “child pornography,” which implies consent and legality — reflects that possessing, disseminating, printing, and viewing these materials is child abuse in itself. Meadows added the lasting effect on survivors: “I have attended professional conferences that speak to the impact of internet crimes against children,” she said. “Survivors talk of how, decades after their abuse, they continue to suffer and be retraumatized because images resurface again and again across the country.”

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provides a tool to help reduce the online footprint of abused children’s images: takeitdown.ncmec.org.

Meadows cautioned that posting children’s photos online has become increasingly risky since our online activities have become so instant and easy to manipulate. “Uploading a photo of your child’s first day of school gives a world of perpetrators access to that image to share or use as they please,” she warned. “Safe images are no longer safe in the age of social media and AI.”

Practical steps that align with that warning:

• Avoid posting images that include school names, logos, street signs, or geotags; turn off location services for camera and social apps.
  
  
• Delay sharing “first-day” or event photos until after the time and place are no longer current; consider sharing in small, private groups only.
  
  
• Crop or blur identifying details (badges, classroom labels), and use privacy settings that truly restrict who can view, download, or reshare.
  
  
• Teach kids never to share images with anyone they don’t know in real life; review their app permissions together.
  
  
• If you suspect CSAM or exploitation, report immediately to local law enforcement and to the CyberTipline (report.cybertip.org). Swift reporting like the action taken in this case is a powerful way to protect children.
  
  

Ebe has been held at the Chelan County Regional Justice Center since his February 2023 booking and will receive credit for time served. The Chelan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said it would provide no further comment on the case.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media