A Vancouver man who allegedly possessed hundreds of images of child pornography made a first court appearance Thursday.
Christopher David Bjerke-Ruhl, 38, appeared in custody on suspicion of five counts of first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Clark County Superior Court Judge Suzan Clark set his bail at $20,000.
In February, Google became aware of an email account uploading suspected child pornography. Google reported the user, which eventually made its way to the Vancouver Police Department, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Email addresses associated with the account were eventually linked to Bjerke-Ruhl, and IP, or internet protocol, addresses were traced to his Vancouver residence, according to the affidavit.
On April 9, after obtaining a search warrant, police pulled over Bjerke-Ruhl, who had recently left his residence and was driving a silver Ford Escape. A phone, iPad and four thumb drives were seized, and Bjerke-Ruhl declined to speak with police before driving away. Later that day, police seized a Lenovo laptop from his home, according to the affidavit.
Forensic analyses found hundreds of photos and dozens of videos depicting child pornography on devices associated with Bjerke-Ruhl, according to the affidavit. Most of the visuals featured children younger than 10 years old, the affidavit said.
“Complete digital forensic analysis of all seized evidence is pending as of this writing,” the affidavit reads.
Bjerke-Ruhl was arrested Wednesday outside of his home. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 2.
