Feb 2, 2026 minute read

A registered sex offender with a decades-long history of sexually assaulting children is back in jail after Seattle police arrested him Thursday in the Chinatown–International District on new child sexual exploitation charges, just months after he was unconditionally released from state custody.

Seattle police arrested Richard Eugene Jackson, 57, following a months-long investigation by the Seattle Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit. Detectives say Jackson is accused of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material, despite having spent years in state prison and at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, Washington’s facility for sexually violent predators.

According to SPD, investigators received 18 cyber-tips in a short period of time alleging Jackson was actively sharing and possessing sexually explicit images of children. ICAC detectives collected evidence from Jackson’s vehicle and his apartment in the 600 block of King Street. Police said they found no new evidence that Jackson physically abused children during this investigation.

Jackson waived his first court appearance on Friday in King County Superior Court. Judge Matthew York found probable cause and set bail at $750,000, ordering Jackson to have no contact with minors and no access to internet-capable devices.

ICAC Sgt. Shawn Martinell said Jackson’s case was treated as a priority because of his extensive criminal history. “With his history and his sex offender status, he has been identified as somebody likely to reoffend,” Martinell said.

According to KOMO News, prosecutors argued Jackson’s release history demonstrates a continuing danger to the public. “His record demonstrates he is not capable or unwilling to conform to the law,” the state told the court, adding that Jackson would not follow the conditions of release if freed. Court records show Jackson has eight prior sex offense convictions, including the sexual assaults of a 12-year-old boy and a 7-year-old boy, prior child sexual abuse material cases, and attempts to contact elementary-aged boys for sexual activity. In an earlier case, Jackson admitted to sexually abusing approximately 70 children, both boys and girls.

Jackson was sent to the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island in 2003, where Washington confines individuals deemed sexually violent predators, offenders determined to suffer from mental abnormalities that make them likely to reoffend if not securely detained. The facility was created to house individuals described by federal authorities as the “worst of the worst.”

In 2019, Jackson was conditionally released to the Secure Community Transition Facility in King County and later moved into less restrictive custody. Court records show he was recommitted after alleged violations before eventually being granted unconditional release in March 2025, after the state dismissed its SVP petition based on an evaluation by the state’s expert.

Jackson’s rearrest comes amid growing public backlash over Washington Democrats’ efforts to release SVP from McNeil Island into residential communities, often with little or no notice to neighbors to de-populate the Island. Additionally, Jackson’s rearrest follows revelations that a home near the intersection of 8th Avenue and Edison Street in Kennewick is being reviewed for use as an LRA for up to five SVPs. Within a two-mile radius of the proposed site, more than 7,400 children attend nearby schools and child care facilities.