A child therapist from Seattle, Washington, recently bailed himself out of jail and fled the United States after being arrested on child pornography charges.
According to documents obtained by Fox 13 Seattle, 26-year-old Yuexiang “Bruce” Ling worked as a family and children’s therapist prior to his arrest for child pornography charges. The charging documents obtained by Fox 13 show that Ling was employed by Valley Cities Behavioral Health Care.
Fox 13 reported that law enforcement officials found dozens of child pornography images in a computer file with the suspect’s cover letter for an application to Seattle Children’s Hospital. However, the outlet noted that Ling bailed himself out of jail and reportedly only paid $7,500 out of his own pocket.
While Ling was forced to surrender his Chinese passport and other identification documents to Seattle law enforcement officials, Fox 13 reported that he obtained an illegal passport, which he used to flee the United States.
Although the U.S. Department of Homeland flagged Ling’s attempted escape and the King County Sheriff’s Office notified the Port of Seattle Police Department to arrest the 26-year-old suspect, police officers still allowed Ling to board an airplane at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and fly to China.
In an email obtained by Fox 13, the Department of Homeland Security told the King County Sheriff’s Office, “Contact has been made and Port of Seattle police was on scene and declined detention of the subject due to the lack of warrant. Unfortunately, subject was released and boarded his outbound flight.”
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Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, told Fox 13, “We believe they absolutely could have arrested him, and we were under the belief that they would have, because they did not need a warrant to arrest him.”
McNerthney told Fox 13 that Ling could have been arrested either for violating his release orders by obtaining a passport or for bail jumping by attempting to board a flight.
Asked why law enforcement officials did not arrest Ling, McNerthney told Fox 13, “That’s a question for the Port. We believe they absolutely could have arrested him. This isn’t a pattern for the Port of Seattle Police. We work with them all the time. They have great officers. This seems like an unfortunate circumstance.”
The Port of Seattle Police told Fox 13 that police officers would have to have a probable cause or a warrant in order to make an arrest. An anonymous police department official told Fox 13 that it was not yet clear whether law enforcement officials had a warrant or probable cause at the time of Ling’s escape from the United States.
Pictures of Ling were shared Sunday on X, formerly Twitter.
