A Centralia man accused of obtaining child sexual abuse images between September 2018 and January 2023 was arrested on Tuesday and now faces charges in Lewis County Superior Court.
The arrest is the culmination of a Centralia Police Department investigation that began on March 22, 2023, when Child Protective Services contacted a detective about an Internet Crimes Against Children referral, according to court documents.
Google had reportedly “become aware of the images/recordings” in June 2022 and submitted them to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to court documents. A review of the Google information yielded the user and IP information associated with the images, identifying the username and the location as an address on Pearl Street in Centralia.
The person associated with the username reportedly uploaded a selfie to a Google Drive account that detectives were able to access.
Detectives executed a search warrant on the Pearl Street address on Aug. 2, 2023, according to court documents. During the search, a woman “answered the door and was detained.”
When she “expressed confusion about what was taking place,” a detective “explained the situation to her and showed her the picture” the individual had uploaded, who she identified as 22-year-old Robert Alejandro Thomas Rivas.
Detectives verified that Rivas was the man in the photo and contacted him about the investigation.
When questioned, Rivas allegedly “admitted that one of the email addresses associated with the pornographic images was his.” A detective reportedly saw Rivas “become nervous and cover his hands with his face” during the interview.
Rivas allegedly told the detective he had two tablets associated with the investigation at the residence, but repeatedly said a friend had the cellphone.
He reportedly allowed detectives to enter his residence with him and, while inside, detectives located the cellphone “visible on a chair next to his bed,” according to court documents.
Rivas allegedly said at least one of his accounts had been hacked, and another account “also had issues with people hacking it,” according to court documents.
He allegedly “admitted to downloading pornography but stated it would have been accidental if the people depicted were underage.”
The phone reportedly “contained way too much pornography for (the detective) to thoroughly review at that location,” according to court documents. Detectives later determined the phone had over 100 gigabytes of porn on it.
A search of the phone at the police department “showed that the phone contained many of the same files that were observed from the Google information,” according to court documents.
A further check of the phone reportedly showed Rivas “was engaging with females on various chat platforms,” according to court documents.
Detectives interviewed one of the girls Rivas allegedly communicated with. When interviewed, the girl allegedly “admitted that (Rivas) began pursuing her when she was 14 years old and wanted to have a sexual relationship with her at that time,” according to court documents.
She reportedly said “this activity” continued for several years.
Detectives have since matched the background of the girl’s room to a pornographic image obtained from Rivas’ phone, according to court documents.
When questioned about the girl on Feb. 6, Rivas allegedly said “he thought she was over 18,” but “admitted that he knew what their age difference was and admitted that she would not have aged faster than him when they were apart,” according to court documents.
Rivas was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
He was charged Wednesday, Feb. 7, with one count each of first- and second-degree possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, communication with a minor for immoral purposes, and indecent liberties.
Rivas has one felony conviction on his record: a 2020 conviction for viewing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Bail is set at $250,000.
“We believe there is a grave danger to the community if there isn’t sufficient bail and other restrictions,” Judge J. Andrew Toynbee said during a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 15.
