A 47-year-old Vancouver man appeared Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of viewing, possessing and dealing child pornography.
Randall C. Packard faces charges of two counts of dealing depictions of a minor, 10 counts of possessing depictions of a minor, and 10 counts of viewing depictions of a minor.
Judge John Nichols set bail at $20,000 and appointed Vancouver attorney Darquise Cloutier to defend him.
Deputy Prosecutor Luke Hansen had requested $100,000 bail.
“He has no criminal history, but the troubling nature of the allegations makes high bail appropriate,” Hansen said.
But Cloutier objected, saying his lack of criminal history supported a lesser amount of bail.
Packard’s Tuesday arrest followed a Vancouver police investigation that began in October 2012. The investigation was prompted by cyber tips from a social networking website to a national clearinghouse that deals with exploited children, according to court documents.
Packard’s residence was identified as the location of one of the computers being used to upload contraband images on the website, the court documents said.
Packard lived with his wife and two daughters in Vancouver until his arrest. He has been unemployed for more than two years, according to court documents. He has a history of bipolar disorder and post traumatic stress disorder, the documents indicate.
Vancouver police obtained a warrant to seize digital evidence from his residence. They found 350 image files and seven video files of primarily prepubescent females, which Packard had possessed, viewed and/or distributed, court documents said. At least 11 images depicted a minor in sexually explicit conduct, the documents said.
Paris Achen: 360-735-4551; http://twitter.com/Col_Courts; http://facebook.com/ColTrends; paris.achen@columbian.com.
