The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a 43-year-old Issaquah man, who had resided at the clothing-optional Fraternity Snoqualmie Family Nudist Park for possession of child pornography.
The investigation started in late July after the Fraternity Snoqualmie president and another resident notified detectives they had found sexually explicit images and videos of minors on the man’s computer through the park’s open wireless network, according to an affidavit for search warrant.
“As soon as it was brought to our attention, the sheriff’s office was contacted, they came up the same day and they started their investigation,” said Fraternity Snoqualmie spokeswoman Dawnzella Gearhart. “… I can say that I am fortunate I didn’t need to see any of the photos.”
The nudist park has operated on about 40 acres of land on Tiger Mountain since 1945, and has nine permanent residential structures and a number of stalls for RVs. About five acres of the property is developed.
“Anything you will see at a regular campground, you will see at ours; We just don’t wear clothes,” Gearhart said.
The man under investigation by the sheriff’s office had leased space for his RV at the nudist park for several months before explicit images were allegedly found on his computer through the shared wireless network, and he was promptly evicted once the authorities were notified, Gearhart said.
To lease a lot, a person must be a “member of good standing” or belong to an affiliate association. Anyone entering the camp must provide identification, which is run against the state’s sex offender registry, she added. The suspect, who will not be named by the Reporter until charges are filed, passed all background checks, Gearhart said.
Residents of the Fraternity Snoqualmie Family Nudist Park like Gearhart are worried about how the allegations against the Issaquah man will affect the public’s opinion of the park, which she said took all the right actions to protect its residents. A victim of molestation by a church counselor when she was a child, Gearhart said she does not blame the institution.
“You can’t blame religion for what that sick individual did, and you can’t blame nudists for what this man did,” she said.
The case remains under investigation, and FS residents do not believe any of the minors depicted in the images and videos are of children residing at the family nudist park. The sheriff’s office is in the process of obtaining and analyzing digital devices belonging to the suspect.
