Tri-Cities cybersecurity expert and stepfather of a murder suspect admits to sex crimes
A Richland man, a cybersecurity expert and the stepfather of an accused murder suspect, faces a minimum of 17 years in prison for grooming and raping a teen girl for years.
His recent guilty plea came over four years after police started investigating him for grooming the girl to be a sex slave, as well as taking explicit photos and videos.
A certified forensic examiner took nearly a year just to crack the encryption used by Lowe on his electronic devices that stored the damning evidence, according to court documents.
Matthew J. Lowe, 47, pleaded guilty last week to second-degree child rape, third-degree child rape, sexual exploitation of a minor and possessions of child pornography.
The second man who is a registered sex offender is also charged with helping abuse her and take photos and videos of her. He is still awaiting trial.
The victim girl came forward in October 2018 to report the abuse to Richland police.
Detectives found more than 50 electronic devices when they searched Lowe’s home, and investigators uncovered nearly 45 terabytes of photographic evidence — about the equivalent to about 9 million photos or 22,500 hours of video.
The girl told police that Lowe had “bragged about his technological skill, stating that law enforcement would never be able to locate images or videos on his devices,” according to court documents.
Lowe groomed the victim starting when she was a young teen, said court documents. He allegedly shared one of his explicit videos with Russell L. Meyer, 47, who also allegedly abused her, said court documents.
He is charged with two counts of second-degree child rape and possession of child pornography.
The Benton County Prosecutor’s Office posted in a release on Facebook that the minimum sentence for Lowe is 17 1/2 years, and once he finishes that term, a state board will decide when he can be released. It’s possible he could serve up to life in prison.
His sentencing hearing is not yet scheduled.
“This resolution would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of the Richland Police Department and, specifically, Detectives Matt Nelson, who was the lead investigator in the case, and retired Detective Robert Benson, who headed up the complex forensic analysis of the digital evidence,” according to the Facebook post.
4+ year investigation
Lowe allegedly began a relationship with the girl when she reportedly was going through a difficult time in her life. He offered to talk whenever she needed and gave her his cellphone number.
He hid the relationship from his own family, court documents said. He allegedly started physically abusing her and continued the assaults for several years until she went to police.
Documents said the abuse included submission, sex toys, whips, ropes and other items, and she was left sometimes with bruises.
His accused accomplice, Meyer already is registered as a Level 2 sex offender, according to public documents. He has a 2016 conviction for second-degree extortion involving sexual motivation, and a 2014 conviction for indecent exposure to a child under age 14.
Tri-City Herald archives show Meyer had been a supervisor at a wireless store when he told a female employee she had to have sex with him to keep her job. He was sentenced to a jail term in August 2016 and ordered to undergo at least three years of sexual deviancy counseling.
Murder connection
Matthew Lowe was previously married to Bethany Lowe of Richland, who was stabbed to death in her home in July 2022.
Her son David Lowe, 29, is charged with killing her and stabbing her longtime partner, Andy Davis, after breaking into their house.
Court records show Matthew Lowe and Bethany Lowe divorced in 2007, and that Matthew is David Lowe’s stepfather.
Legal proceedings against David Lowe have been on hold since an Eastern State Hospital psychologist found that he wasn’t mentally healthy enough to stand trial.
The former firefighter told investigators he broke in to find out if his mother had killed his daughter. He was convinced of the girl’s death though she lives with her mother unharmed.
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 12:13 PM.