Sex offender sentenced to 17 years in prison
Published 1:30 am Friday, November 28, 2025
A registered sex offender who cut off his ankle monitor and then offended against more minor girls, including in Auburn, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison.
On Nov. 17, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sentenced James “Jake” Harrison Newcomer, 28, of King County, to 17 years in federal prison for travel with intent to engage in sexual acts with a minor and two counts of attempted enticement of a minor. According to the DOJ, Newcomer was also found to have child sexual abuse material, but despite efforts of law enforcement, not all the children pictured in the images on the electronic devices have been identified.
Newcomer was on state supervision following his 30-month prison sentence for two counts of rape of a child when he cut off his ankle monitor. According to the DOJ, Newcomer pretended to be a teen online to be able to connect with minor girls.
“This repeat offender is every parent’s nightmare – the dangerous stranger who enters your home via the internet and steals your child’s innocence,” U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said. “Having been convicted in state court of rape of a child, he had a chance to get treatment and turn his life around. Instead, he cut off his ankle monitor and preyed upon more than a dozen children for his sexual gratification. At least now he will be off the street.”
Details of the case
According to court documents, in February 2024, the Auburn Police Department was notified that a minor victim who was born in 2008 ran away overnight. Snapchat messages were then recovered from the minor victim, who ran away, and a Snapchat user who was later confirmed to be Newcomer.
According to documents, Newcomer told the girl how to disable her alarm at her parents’ home, and then made plans to pick her up the day she was reported missing. Newcomer then told the girl that they could make money together if they uploaded adult content online. The minor victim stated that she had sexual communication with Newcomer through Snapchat and had visited his home.
According to the DOJ, Newcomer admitted that after cutting off his electronic monitoring device, between February and April 2024, he sexually abused 10 different teens in Washington and Oregon, whom he met via various social media platforms. The DOJ reports that when he met with the girls, Newcomer gave the girls drugs and alcohol. The victims’ ages range from 12 to 16 years old, the DOJ said.
Travel with intent to engage in sexual acts is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and enticement of a minor is punishable by a mandatory 10 years in prison and up to life in prison.
According to the DOJ, the Kent and Auburn police departments were part of this investigation. Additionally, various other police departments and agencies, including the FBI, the Woodburn (Oregon) Police Department, the Marion County District Attorney’s Office, the Snoqualmie Police Department, the Black Diamond Police Department, the Des Moines Police Department and the King County Sheriff’s Office were part of the investigation.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the DOJ to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
