A prosecutor's affidavit filed today was a further reminder on how much the world has changed since most people switched over from film to digital photos. (I got a wide-angle toy camera for my birthday in March and had a heck of time finding fast film for it.)

A man was charged with child rape and sexual exploitation of a minor after bringing some film into a local Costco to be developed, the affidavit said. (The issue came up in a story I wrote a while back where some experts said digital cameras had spurred an huge increase in the production of child pornography.)

The pictures showed "a juvenile male standing naked in a bathtub; the juvenile male has shaving cream covering his chest and genitals; one of the photographs depicts his hands in his genitalia and his hands are covered with shaving cream... There are three photo prints depicting the same juvenile male wearing a blue t-shirt and an athletic supporter; he is sitting in a recliner with his legs spread apart and two prints depict him lying down on a bean bag type pillow with his legs spread and his feet elevated; one photo print depicts the juvenile male sitting at a computer with one hand under his shorts in his groin area."

The suspect, Eugene L. Pritchett, said they had been "just fooling around." But he declined to identify the child to a Tacoma detective.

Eventually the detective was able to identify the child, the affidavit says. The photos are apparently several years old.

There's an interesting twist to the case -- Pritchett was licensed to provide temporary foster care, but lost his license after he was accused of inappropriate contact with underage boys. It's not clear from the affidavit why he lost his license because it also says the accusation was ruled unfounded.

The child, who identified himself as the boy in the photos, told the detective that he and his little brother stopped going over to Pritchett's house but stopped because of unwanted sexual contact.

The child reported "he visited there for five years and it happened hundreds of times."

A state task force has arrested a Lacey man suspected of dealing in sexually-explicit images of minors.

The investigation was conducted by the Washington State Patrol Missing and Exploited Children Task Force, which is comprised of detectives from the State Patrol and Lakewood and Puyallup Police Departments. Lacey police officers also assisted in this case, the State Patrol reported.

The task force recently received information from the Florida Internet Crimes Against Children center that a 28-year-old man from the state had been "sending several child sexual images to an individual in Florida who had been previously arrested for other computer related charges," the State Patrol reported.

Investigators determined the man was living in Lacey. The task force got a warrant to search the man's computer.

About 6:15 a.m. Friday, detectives arrested the man on suspicion of possession of child pornography and dealing in depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit.

The man was questioned, then booked into Thurston County Jail. Investigators confiscated the man's computer and crime analysts will be looking at it to "determine the extent of the crime," the State Patrol reported.

Fred Donald Manning, 58, faces five to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to one count of shipping child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported.

Manning posted an Internet ad in April 2007 saying he is sexually attracted to young children and asking mothers of young girls to contact him via e-mail, according to a news release.

An undercover agent claiming to be the mother of twin girls contacted him instead. The two exhanged e-mails (some of Manning's apparently contained photographs of children engaged in sex acts) before he was arrested and charged, the news release states.

Manning is to be scheduled Feb. 8.

The trial of retired Tacoma police officer Lee William Giles Jr. and his girlfriend, Maureen Wear, has been put off again.

Giles and Wear, charged in August 2006 with a litany of child sex crimes, were scheduled to go to trial tomorrow.

But deputy prosecutor John Sheeran asked Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff for a delay Monday, explaining that he's in trial on another case right now.

Chushcoff granted Sheeran's request. Giles and Wear now are scheduled to got to trial Nov. 26.

Prosecutors contend the Giles and Wear molested young relatives for years and videotaped some of the abuse. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Looks like Lee William Giles Jr. won't be going to trial until Halloween.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Katherine Stolz signed a order continuing the trial of Giles and his girlfriend, Maureen Wear, until Oct. 31.

Giles, a retired Tacoma police officer, and Wear are charged with a litany of child-sex crimes. Prosecutors contend the two molested young relatives for years and videotaped some of the abuse. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Those videotapes are the reason for the delay. The Washington Supreme Court just issued a ruling requiring prosecutors to turn over copies of the tapes to defense attorneys. Prosecutors say they need time to make the copies, and the defense says it needs time to study them.

In the meantime, Giles (shown here at his August 2006 arraignment) and Wear remain in jail, where they've been since their arrest last summer.