Bothell school employee indicted on federal child sexual abuse material charges

A paraeducator at Canyon Park Middle School in Bothell has been indicted on two federal felony charges involving child sexual abuse material. Evan Fowler, 47, of Bothell, faces one charge of distribution of child pornography and one charge of possession of child pornography, according to court documents.

Online court records show the indictment was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The federal allegations reflect the accusations that prompted Bothell police to arrest Fowler in October after a local investigation into downloads of sexually explicit images and videos involving minors.

Initial arrest documents said Fowler had been employed as a paraeducator at Canyon Park Middle School for about two years. The school is part of the Northshore School District, which said it placed him on administrative leave immediately after learning of the allegations in mid-October.

A district spokesperson said at that time that officials had confirmed the allegations did not involve any Northshore students. The district’s account of its response came after the allegations against the middle school employee surfaced.

According to court documents, investigators traced multiple downloads of child sexual abuse material to an IP address associated with Fowler. Those downloads were the subject of the local police investigation that preceded his arrest and the subsequent federal proceedings.

The indictment says Fowler spoke with investigators when they served a search warrant. He reportedly acknowledged downloading the material on approximately 20 occasions, with the amount of illegal content estimated at 200 gigabytes. Court documents also say that, after his arrest, he wrote a letter apologizing to the victims for viewing their abuse.

Snohomish County Jail booking records show Fowler was taken into custody on Oct. 14. He was released the next day after posting a $75,000 bond, according to the online records.

Fowler appeared in federal court for the first time a week later. Federal court records say he surrendered his passport and guaranteed supervision before being released on his own personal recognizance.

The case is scheduled to return to federal court for arraignment on Thursday at the U.S. District Courthouse in Seattle. That hearing follows Wednesday’s filing of the indictment on the two federal charges.