By Colleen Smith and Heather Spaulding
Warning: The following story contains graphic sexual details.
Christopher Martin Moller, a 52-year-old Orcas Island man, has been charged with multiple counts of sex crimes against children and was found guilty on March 21 of one count of child molestation in the first degree and four counts of unlawful possession of firearms in the second degree.
“We are very pleased with the jury verdict,” Deputy Prosecutor Teresa Barnett said, noting that after a five-day trial, it only took the jury a few hours to find him guilty.
Moller was first charged in June 2021 with child molestation in the first degree and four counts of illegal possession of firearms. On Aug. 17, Moller was charged with three counts of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first degree and one count of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the second degree.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 28 for the molestation and firearms convictions, but according to Barnett, a Presentence Investigation Report is being conducted by the Department of Corrections, which is standard in sexual abuse cases. That report must be completed and received by the court before sentencing can be done.
The trial for possession of child abuse material is currently scheduled for July 11.
Details of the cases:
A teen and her mother contacted the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office in November 2020 to report an alleged sexual assault that occurred when the victim was between six and seven years old in 2010. According to the probable cause statement, Moller was a family friend and spent time with the victim on Orcas while she lived there as a child.
In the fall of 2020, the victim was prompted to report the two incidents after Moller appeared as a “suggested friend” on Facebook. In spring 2021, the victim accepted a Facebook request from Moller, who then sent the victim a message. In June, Detective Lukas Peter obtained an intercept order signed by Judge Kathryn Loring to begin chatting with Moller undercover using Facebook messenger. Moller made several attempts to get the victim to meet him, and when Detective Peter, posing as the victim, confronted Moller about touching her, Moller indicated the assault had occurred.
Police obtained a search warrant shortly thereafter for his home and car and arrested Moller. During a recorded interview, he admitted to knowing the victim as a child but denied touching her sexually. A search warrant was executed at Moller’s residence on Orcas, and electronic devices were seized. Printed material of child erotica and other materials pertaining to child sexuality was also located in Moller’s bedroom. In addition, four illegal firearms were found. Moller is not allowed to own weapons after pleading guilty in 1997 to a domestic violence charge.
The electronic devices were sent to Homeland Security Investigations Lab for imaging and analysis. A total of 742 of those files were identified by investigators as containing child abuse material and 6,404 were tagged as “child exploitative/age difficult,” indicating they may contain child abuse material but it was challenging to gauge the ages of the victims depicted.
Moller’s previous criminal history includes domestic violence in the fourth degree and not having a valid driver’s license. Moller was arrested but not charged in 2012 for indecent exposure.
