A 24-year-old Centralia man faces felony charges after he was arrested for allegedly exchanging nude photographs of children and communicating with children as young as 10 in a “sexual manner,” according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.
Mason U. Trujillo was booked into the Lewis County Jail Nov. 13 before making a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court the following day.
Trujillo was charged with the following: one count of first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct; three counts of second-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct; and one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Trujillo is currently under investigation for possible sexual assault of a 12-year-old child in Rochester.
Through that investigation, a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective executed search warrants for Trujillo’s Snapchat account and learned Trujillo lived in Lewis County and was “communicating with multiple minors and exchanging nude or lewd photographs of minor children,” according to the affidavit.
One of those alleged exchanges included nude and sexual images of a 10-year-old girl in Michigan. One image of the girl reportedly contained the phrase “I wanna marry you too.”
The detective coordinated with the Chehalis Police Department to find Trujillo.
“During a conversation at the Chehalis Police Department, Mr. Trujillo admitted to sexual contact with the minor in Rochester, and to speaking with minor girls on Snapchat in a sexual manner, including the girls calling Mr. Trujillo names like ‘daddy’ or some similar talk,” the affidavit states.
Trujillo allegedly admitted he knew several of the children were between 10 to 12 and indicated he had a “sexual deviancy problem and needs help.”
During the preliminary hearing, Judge Joely Yeager agreed with the state’s request for $250,000 bail. She called the allegations “extremely concerning” and said the court had to consider community safety, noting Trujillo allegedly admitted he had a “serious problem.”
Yeager prohibited Trujillo from having any contact with minors while the case is pending, which includes both physical contact or any contact through social media or other means.
Should he post bail, Trujillo is also prohibited from going anywhere where minor children are known to congregate, such as schools, parks, playgrounds or shopping malls.
Trujillo has no known felony history.
An arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 20. Trujillo will look to retain private counsel.
