No-show child porn suspect sought on a $20,000 warrant

A North Whidbey man’s arraignment was scheduled for Monday, but he didn’t appear.

A North Whidbey man accused of trading child pornography is wanted on a warrant after he didn’t show up for a court hearing.

Andrew A. Blakney, a 31-year-old Northgate Terrace resident, was charged in Island County Superior Court April 12 with dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first degree and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first degree.

Blakney’s arraignment was scheduled for Monday, but he didn’t appear.

Judge Carolyn Cliff agreed with the prosecutor’s recommendation and issued a $20,000 arrest warrant.

Homeland Security investigated Blakney a year ago after a representative from Kik, a messaging and file-sharing app, alerted agents that a subscriber shared a file that was possibly child pornography.

The subscriber was identified as Blakney through a summons to the internet provider, according to a report by a detective with the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

In February of last year, a special agent and task force officers obtained and executed a search warrant for Blakney’s home.

Later, the special agent obtained a federal search warrant for Blakney’s Kik account and obtained videos, images and other information, the report states.

The case was then passed to a detective with the Island County Sheriff’s Office who reviewed and stored the evidence.

He identified “at least 85” video files that meet the statutory description of child porn, the report indicates.

If convicted of the charges against him, Blakney could face a sentence in the standard range of 31-41 months in prison.