Soap Lake, WA Man Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Production

48-year-old Michael Gene Rice, of Soap Lake, Washington, pleaded guilty to Production and Attempted Production of Child Pornography in United States District Court and has been scheduled for a sentencing hearing on October 11, 2023, in Spokane, Washington.

According to court documents, Rice forced an 11-year-old minor in his care to record sexually explicit conduct on on his phone.  The conduct was eventually reported to law enforcement by the unnamed minor, and a search warrant was granted for Rice’s iCloud account data. In said iCloud account, law enforcement saw and documented child pornography videos consistent with the minor’s statements.

According to authorities, Rice was previously convicted in 2002 of Rape of a Child in the First Degree, in Grant County, Washington.  The victim in that case was also just 11 years old.

Rice is also awaiting sentencing in Grant County, where Rice was convicted by jury trial of two counts of Dealing in Depictions of a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct, as well as two counts of Possession of Depictions of a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct.

“As a parent, I am chilled by Mr. Rice’s exploitative conduct of a young child,” said United States Attorney Waldref. “My office will continue to take child exploitation seriously, whether online or in-person. Children everywhere deserve to live in a world free from predators.”

United States Attorney Waldref continued, “This case, like so many of the cases we prosecute in federal court, involved a joint effort by federal, state and local law enforcement. We are particularly grateful for the Grant County Prosecuting Office’s partnership on this case. When law enforcement is able to partner together – as we did here – we are able to do much to strengthen our communities and keep our citizens, including young children, safe.”

The case came to light as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

This case was also investigated by the Missing and Exploited Children Task Force, Washington State Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations in Spokane on a Task Force housed at the HSI Spokane office.