West Richland man indicted in child pornography case

A West Richland man now faces federal charges for allegedly having hundreds of downloaded images of child pornography and taking his own graphic pictures of a young girl.

Darrin L. Ruddell, 47, appeared Monday in U.S. District Court in Yakima, one week after a federal grand jury returned an indictment.

He pleaded innocent to one count each of producing, receiving and possessing child pornography.

A trial date has been set for July 25 in the Richland federal courthouse before Senior Judge Ed Shea.

Ruddell — a registered nurse who had been employed with Kadlec when the allegations first surfaced earlier this year — is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service at the Yakima County jail.

He previously was in the Benton County jail on $175,000, but was removed Monday morning by marshals for his first federal court hearing.

A bail hearing is set May 18 in Yakima before Magistrate Judge Mary K. Dimke.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurel Holland is asking to keep Ruddell locked up, both for the community’s safety and to ensure his appearance at future hearings.

Ruddell’s eight related charges in Benton County Superior Court were dismissed last Friday. He still faces one count of possessing a controlled substance with a June 6 trial date.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in November about 1,480 images that had been downloaded to a wireless account.

The national network helps law enforcement and prosecutors investigate people who use the internet, online communication systems or computer technology to sexually exploit children.

The images in this case were later determined to belong to Ruddell, court documents said.

A search of his home in February allegedly turned up several “peek-a-boo” cameras with memory cards, loaded syringes and a bottle each of ketamine and lorazepam.

Both sedatives are known to be used as “date rape” drugs.

Images recovered from Ruddell’s electronic devices show children posed while nude, involved in sex acts with other kids and being molested or raped by adult men and women, documents said.

Later, additional evidence was found that Ruddell actually produced some of the child porn himself using a Tri-City girl, documents said.

Investigators reportedly have not found evidence that any pictures were taken of patients.

If convicted of the federal charges, Ruddell is looking at a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison.

Earlier this month, state health officials suspended Ruddell’s license. He had been active since 1999.

He was given 20 days to respond to the action. In the meantime, he is not allowed to practice in Washington until the matter is resolved.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "West Richland man indicted in child pornography case."