Former foster dad pleads guilty to child porn charge

A former foster father pleaded guilty Thursday to filming a minor without the minor’s knowledge while the minor was masturbating in a bedroom.

Robert F. McFee, 69, of Vancouver entered a Newton plea — acknowledging that a jury could find him guilty of the crime but not admitting to guilt — to charges of voyeurism, first-degree dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

McFee, who is represented by attorney Steven Thayer, is scheduled to be sentenced for the crimes Jan. 29. He faces up to several years in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years. He is free on $75,000 bond until his sentencing.

In exchange for McFee’s guilty plea, Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes dismissed more than a dozen other counts, including dealing in and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Vancouver police began investigating McFee in June 2013 when they detected a computer user in the area was offering to share videos of minors engaged in sexual activity through a peer network on the Internet. A detective downloaded 11 of the proffered videos and found they contained child pornography, according to court papers. Police served a search warrant at McFee’s home in the Green Meadows neighborhood in September 2013. During the course of the investigation, police allegedly found the video of the minor and hundreds of other images of child pornography. Court papers indicate that McFee and the minor knew each other and that McFee was a foster father at the time of the incident.

McFee is retired and had no previous criminal history.