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A Utah judge agreed to let eight people view a pornographic animation found on a computer taken from Josh Powell's home in 2009 after it appeared he might be poised to be reunited with his two young sons.
The Washington Department of Social and Health Services on Tuesday released court documents that show the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office and West Valley City police asked 3rd District Judge Judith S. Atherton to allow limited access to the images. In her Jan. 12 order, the judge noted that Jeffrey Bassett, Powell's attorney, was seeking to have Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, returned to their father's care at a hearing set for the next week.
Bassett's motion came after Washington Child Protective Services sent Powell a letter at the end of November informing him it had determined that allegations he had neglected or mistreated his sons were unfounded.
John Long, an assistant attorney general for Washington, discussed Bassett's motion with Utah authorities. They asked for permission to share images described as "computer-generated, 'avatar' incestual caricature pornography and morphed child pornography" with those involved in the child welfare investigation, according to Atherton's ruling. She ordered that access to the images be strictly controlled and prohibited any discussion of them except in the upcoming child custody hearing.
"We told [Washington state attorneys] we had these images and at first they said they didn't need them right away," said Sim Gill, Salt Lake County district attorney. "But then they told us they were interested and wanted those. We certainly got those images up there from the time we were made aware they wanted them … and we certainly got them up there in a timely fashion."
The images were given to Pierce County Detective Gary Sanders, who was to set up a place for those on the approved list to view them.
Both Long and Bassett were on Atherton's list, which also included Judge Kathryn J. Nelson of Pierce County Superior Court, who presided over the child welfare case; Julio Serrano, the boys' guardian ad litem; Steve Downing, an attorney for Chuck and Judy Cox, the boys' maternal grandparents; Rocky Stephenson, a child protective services worker for Pierce County; and James Manley, the psychologist who conducted Powell's court-ordered evaluation.
The Jan. 19 hearing was canceled after government offices were shut down during a massive snowstorm in Washington; it was reset for Feb. 1.
Long said the images were shared with the psychologist just before the hearing. Neither Bassett nor Downing viewed them before that hearing — and Downing has said he didn't learn he was on the approved list until last week. Authorities have recently said the images were not illegal because they did not involve real people.
Michael C. Powell, Josh's brother, said in a post on a website set up just days before the hearing that West Valley Police drummed up the images in an effort to "interfere" in the custody case. Josh Powell also alluded to new efforts to malign him in a court document he filed for that hearing as he argued for the return of his sons.
"Not only have I received a letter from CPS stating that the allegations against me are 'unfounded,' I have also received praise for my relationship with my sons and for my stability in the face of a very difficult circumstance beyond my control," Powell wrote in Feb. 1 court filing. "Having demonstrated my fitness as a parent, it is time for my sons to come home. No child wants to be taken from their parents and it is not reasonable to continue this process. At this point, it is only by bending and breaking the rules that anyone even tries to keep it going."
During the hearing, both Long and the psychologist said discovery of the images warranted leaving the boys with the Coxes and requiring Powell to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and polygraph test to determine what he knew about them. Nelson agreed.
Powell killed himself and his sons in a horrific house fire four days later.