A Father's Breach Of Trust

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In addition to his law enforcement background, Ken Freeman was also "Mr. Eastern Washington Bodybuilder."

For high school junior Kylie Freeman, it started out like a normal evening at home with her mom and stepfather.  But as the family watched the film "Forrest Gump," something that happened to one of the characters on screen suddenly triggered Kylie's memory of a horrible thing that had happened to her. That's when police say Kylie revealed to her family that her father, Kenneth John Freeman, had raped her six years earlier.

Investigators say they discovered that the abuse had started when Kylie was ten years old, around the time that Freeman was divorcing his second wife, Kylie's stepmother. Cops say Freeman would show Kylie pornography and molest her, then threaten her not to tell anyone.  After Freeman's divorce was finalized later that year, the abuse didn't stop.  In fact, police say it got a lot worse. 

Police Find Evidence Of Past Evils

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Ken Freeman and his daughter Kylie in happier times.

Based on Kylie's account alone, prosecutors felt they had enough information to file felony charges of child rape in the first degree.  Detectives would soon discover disgusting and damning pieces of evidence against Freeman. As they examined Kylie's computer, forensic experts uncovered graphic homemade pornography of Kenneth Freeman sexually abusing Kylie -- computer files that police suspect were put there by Freeman himself.   Cops seemed to have all the evidence they needed to put Freeman behind bars for a very long time.

However, Freeman never showed up for his arraignment hearing in Kennewick, Washington in March, 2006.  In fact, detectives found surveillance video of him four hours away in Seattle leaving a parking garage on the day of his hearing.  When Freeman failed to appear, a warrant was issued for his arrest.  The one-time federal law enforcement officer and reserve sheriff's Deputy became a fugitive.  

ICE and US Marshals started monitoring Freeman's activity months after he made their 'Most Wanted' list.  Cops say Kenneth Freeman's prior career in law enforcement as a reserve deputy and security guard made him harder to catch.  That is until May 2, 2007, when Freeman crossed the border from China to Hong Kong and was arrested by local police. 

The Woman Behind The Man

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Maleka May Freeman

Authorities tell AMW that Ken Freeman had help staying one step ahead of the law when he fled the country in March of 2006...his third wife, Maleka May Freeman.  Cops believe that Maleka made a series of trips to China to see the then-fugitive and that she withheld information and made false statements to police. 

Maleka Freeman was arrested on May 3, 2007 --the day after her husband -- by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  She was detained as she exited an international flight from China.

When the agents encountered Maleka Freeman, she had two sets of luggage, one containing four pairs of men's shoes, twelve men's shirts, four pairs of men's pants, two sport coats, underwear, belts, and three bottles of AXE men's body spray.  In her second piece of luggage was a wedding anniversary card which read 'For My Husband.'  When questioned by ICE agents whom she was seeing in China, she claimed to be meeting her father, sister, and niece at the airport in Hong Kong.  She also claimed that she hadn't seen Ken Freeman since March 23, 2006. 

Agents also asked Freeman who the clothes were for and she replied that they were for her female cousin and no one else.  However, authorities found a removable hard drive that contained pictures of Maleka and Ken Freeman together.  The images were dated November 2006 but appeared to have been taken during a trip she took to China from August to December of 2006. 

Maleka May Freeman recently pled guilty to making false statements to ICE officials and US Marshals about her husband's whereabouts.  She also admitted to lying about helping Freeman cross the Canadian border to Vancouver, BC on March 23, 2006.  Hours later, Freeman was on a flight to China.  On November 29, 2007, Freeman's third wife, Maleka May Freeman, was sentenced to 6 months home confinement and 240 hours of community service as part of a 3 year term of probation for lying to two different law enforcement agencies on multiple occasions about knowledge of her husband's whereabouts.

- By Robert Brown and Denise Poon, AMW Staff

AMW Capture #939

Freeman Captured In Hong Kong, Back On U.S. Soil

Authorities say that before AMW profiled Kenneth John Freeman, the former lawman's child molestation case was largely a provincial affair.  That all changed after one airing on America's Most Wanted. 

Law enforcement went public with their search for Freeman and his daughter, Kylie, now a teenager and an advocate against child sexual abuse, courageously spoke out against her father on AMW.  That's when clues started falling into place.  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) had long been monitoring a series of child pornography videos showing the abuse of an unidentified girl.  They were convinced the child and her abuser were from the Pacific Northwest and when the Freeman case received national publicity, NCMEC linked the girl on America's Most Wanted to the little girl in the videos. 

Freeman was charged with child rape in Washington and released on bond in December 2005.  One of the last images that AMW had of Freeman before his capture was of him exiting a parking garage in Seattle on March 24, 2006 -- a day he was supposed to be in court.  Cops say that he fled the country to China that very same day. 

Since then, the manhunt for Ken Freeman went international and he was soon named to both the U.S. Marshal's and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) 'Most Wanted' lists.  AMW has learned that Freeman was living in a small town outside of Shanghai and had a job in the computer industry.  Authorities believe that Freeman traveled to Hong Kong, Moscow, Istanbul, and Cypress.

The ICE attaché in Beijing was able to confirm through Chinese authorities that Freeman was in the People's Republic of China.  Although no extradition treaty exists between the U.S. and China, Chinese authorities agreed to assist in the investigation.  In Spring of 2007, ICE officials at the U.S. Embassy learned of Freeman's intent to travel to Hong Kong sometime in May.  Next, a provisional arrest warrant was issued in Hong Kong where the US does have extradition treaties in place.   

On May 2, 2007 Freeman traveled into Hong Kong by bus and was seized by local police at a bus stop, but not before trying to take on multiple cops at once.  The former bodybuilder and law enforcement officer apparently threw more than a few punches at authorities before his ultimate capture. 

»Kenneth Freeman Video Gallery

In September of 2007, Freeman agreed to be extradited to the United States.  In mid-October 2007, U.S. Marshals and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official chartered a jet and flew from the Pacific Northwest to China to haul Freeman back to the U.S.  While leaving Hong Kong, local authorities closed off street traffic for the motorcade's trip to the airport.  On October 18, 2007, Freeman arrived at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Wash. where he was transported on a government chartered jet, stopping for fuel in Japan and Anchorage, Alaska before arriving in Spokane.   Sources say that the extradition was uneventful and for nearly the entire flight, Freeman was very talkative.  Freeman faces charges in Washington on three counts of child rape and bail jumping, and on federal charges of producing and distributing child pornography.

Authorities say Freeman was escorted by heavily-armed marshals to the Spokane County Jail where he was arraigned the next day.  Freeman appeared thinner and weaker, his hair had grayed, and he shaved his mustache.  After entering a not guilty plea, he is being held without bond. Three separate jurisdictions have pending charges against Freeman: in the Eastern District of Washington -- the first case to go forward -- Freeman is charged with one count of child pornography production and one count of child pornography distribution.  At a pre-trial conference on December 12, 2007, he waived his right to a speedy trial and a trial date was set for March 26, 2008, in Yakima, Wash. 

On Dec. 17, 2008, Freeman pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and interstate transportation of a minor for the purpose of unlawful sexual activity.

His agreement with federal prosecutors calls for a sentence of 50 years in prison, plus three years of probation, when Freeman is sentenced March 25.  Freeman also pleaded guilty to three Benton County charges of child rape during an appearance in Spokane County Superior Court, in exchange for an expected sentence of 20 years, to run concurrently with the federal time. He will be held in a federal prison.