A judge added four more years to the prison sentence for a man who molested children in his Redmond congregation, bringing his total time behind bars to at least 12 years plus lifetime supervision for crimes involving six victims.
The sentence resolves the latest case against Buckland Darrell, 47, a member of a Redmond ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where police say he molested children between 2016 and 2022. At a sentencing hearing Friday in King County Superior Court, Darrell acknowledged the harm he caused his victims.
“All I have to say is my goal going forward is just to make sure that nothing like this can ever happen again in my life,” he said. “I’m sorry for any pain or harm I caused anyone. I never want to harm or cause pain to anyone again. That’s my goal from now on.”
Members of Darrell’s congregation raised concerns about his behavior for years before his arrest. At a 2020 church service, two witnesses alleged they saw Darrell groping a 6-year-old boy in the chapel. Redmond police were called to investigate, but the boy initially said nothing inappropriate had happened. Police said there was not enough evidence to charge Darrell at the time, though the victim later disclosed the abuse and Darrell was charged for that case. The father of the boy warned other families in the ward not to let Darrell sit with them at church.
Fellow church members reported Darrell had an “uncomfortable fixation on children,” including a pattern of photographing children at church events and not showing parents the photos he had taken of their children. A former LDS bishop told investigators he had been made aware of Darrell’s concerning behavior and spoke to him about it. The bishop said when he would address this with Darrell, he would make excuses like, “kids get me, I’m their friend,” police wrote in an arrest report. The bishop said Darrell was socially awkward and more easily interacted with children as opposed to adults.
Darrell was not married and did not have children. Prosecutors said he befriended families with children and found ways to insert himself into their lives. “His actions against all five boys are very similar and highlight a common plan he had to ingratiate himself in these families, isolate, and molest young boys,” Caitlin Cushing, a deputy prosecuting attorney, wrote in charging papers for his prior case. In his latest case, the victim’s family said Darrell would often show up to their house uninvited and offer to help fix things. In police interviews in 2023, Darrell said he had sexually abused between six and eight victims but refused to provide names, according to charging documents. While 12 years is the minimum sentence Darrell faces, how long he spends in prison will ultimately be decided by Washington’s Indeterminate Sentence Review Board. He will be under supervision and must register as a sex offender for life.
