Child rape suspect arrested again in Richland on child porn charges
A Richland man already suspected of child rape is in trouble again after being caught with child pornography Thursday.
Richland police arrested Zachary M. Randles, 28, after a search of a home on the 1700 block of April Loop reportedly found “multiple digital devices,” in addition to pictures showing child sex abuse that he sent online, police said in a Friday news release.
Randles had been out of jail awaiting trial after being arrested in April 2024 in connection with an investigation of first-degree rape of a child for molesting an 8-year-old girl.
His $35,000 bail was bumped up to $1 million after his rearrest Thursday.
He is back in the Benton County jail on suspicion of two counts of possession of images of minors in sexually explicit conduct and two counts of dealing in child pornography.
Richland police initially began investigating Randles after three tips from Kik, a messaging application, to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The social media service said someone using three profiles but with the same internet address had sent videos and pictures in August and September, according to court documents.
The social media records allegedly showed Randles talked with other users about trading photos and videos showing child sex abuse.
Records from Google showed 128 other depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, along with selfies showing Randles with his truck and copies of his resume, said court documents.
As they were investigating Randles, police discovered photos that showed that he had access to guns. Officers watched the home and waited to arrest him until he’d left the house.
They served a search warrant on March 5 with the help of the city’s street crimes unit, criminal investigation detectives and patrol officers. They also had help from Benton County’s electronic search dog and Kennewick detectives.
Along with the digital devices, police found a loaded handgun and an AR-15 style rifle.
Anyone with information about exploitation of children online is urged to report to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org.
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 3:05 PM.