William J. Ogden faces warrant in child pornography case

An Island County Superior Court judge has issued a $25,000 bench warrant for William J. Ogden, a 26-year-old man from Coupeville, after he failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing.

Ogden faces three counts of first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The investigation, which began in July following a report to the Oak Harbor Police Department, involved the examination of electronic files returned by Google. Investigators identified 19 files believed to be first-degree possession and 10 files believed to be second-degree possession.

The police report also noted the discovery of 33 images identified as being generated by artificial intelligence, alongside other computer-generated sexually explicit images of apparent children. Recent changes to Washington state law now include certain AI-generated depictions of minors under legal scrutiny, even if the child is not identifiable. If convicted, Ogden faces a potential prison sentence ranging from three years and 10 months to five years and one month.