Walla Walla man arrested on child rape, pornography charges

WALLA WALLA, Wash.-- A Walla Walla man was arrested Tuesday, months after detectives began investigating a report of suspected child pornography.

According tot he Walla Walla Police Department, the agency's Major Crimes detective initiated the sex crimes investigation in 2020 along with a detective in another jurisdiction. The investigation led detectives to a home on Hobson St. in Walla Walla.

By early January 2021, detectives had gathered enough information to obtain warrant to search a house on Hobson St. for evidence of child pornography.

During the search of the, detectives located a "substantial amount of child pornography' along with information indicating that a minor child had been sexually assaulted of a minor child.

When detectives interviewed the suspect, he admitted to viewing child pornography and to having sexual relations with the juvenile victim who is known by the suspect.

On January 26, detectives arrested Timothy Lee Palmer, 63, Walla Walla, who was at a motel on Melrose Street in Walla Walla.

Palmer is being held without bail in the Walla Walla County Jail for suspicion of rape of a child in the first degree, child molest in the first degree, distribution of obscene depictions of a minor engaged in sexual conduct and possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexual conduct.