The Predator in the Redmond Stake: Former LDS Member Admits to Abusing Up to 8 Children

A King County judge has added more than four years to the prison sentence of a man who used his relationships within a Redmond church to sexually abuse children in his congregation.

On March 6, 2026, King County Superior Court Judge Samuel Chung sentenced Buckland Lee Darrell to an additional 51 months in prison for first-degree child molestation.

This new sentence will be served consecutively to a 98-month indeterminate sentence Darrell is already serving for three prior counts of first-degree child molestation. As part of the disposition, an additional charge of first-degree rape of a child was dismissed.

A Pattern of Abuse

The charges stem from Darrell’s time as a member of a Redmond ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he abused multiple children between 2016 and 2022.

Prosecutors detailed how Darrell used his LDS connections to ingratiate himself with member families. He often isolated the young boys to sexually assault them.

According to court and police documents, Darrell’s methods included showing up at victims’ homes uninvited to offer help with repairs. A mother of one of the victims reported that Darrell frequently took pictures of children at church and had kids sit on his lap.

Ignored Red Flags

Members of Darrell’s congregation had reportedly raised concerns about his behavior for years before his initial arrest. Fellow church members noticed his “uncomfortable fixation on children” and a pattern of taking photos of children at church events without showing the pictures to their parents.

A December 2022 mitigation letter submitted to the court by Darrell’s former bishop, Bradly J. Cahoon, reveals that church leadership was explicitly aware of these concerns over a decade prior to his prosecution.

Cahoon, who served as the ecclesiastical leader of the congregation for approximately six years, wrote that members raised concerns that Darrell was “too friendly with the youth and children” roughly 12 years prior to the letter’s drafting.

At the time those concerns were raised, Darrell was serving as a teacher in the primary organization. Following the complaints, Darrell “was later released from serving with the youth.” Cahoon stated he “personally spoke to him about the challenge of being a single guy and being friendly with children and the perception that can create.”

Despite these early warnings, Darrell remained an active member of the Hartman Park Ward. He continued to attend sacrament meetings and church activities where children were present. Cahoon’s letter even noted that Darrell actively “photographed many church events including Christmas Santa Claus photos with the kids.”

In a disturbing 2020 incident, two witnesses reported seeing Darrell groping a 6-year-old boy in the church chapel. Police records indicate that Cahoon viewed Darrell as socially awkward, and believed he simply interacted more easily with children than with adults.

Additional Victims Step Forward

Darrell was originally sentenced in September 2024 for his first three convictions. However, in January 2025, the family of an additional victim came forward, reporting that Darrell had molested their child between July 2017 and May 2021.

During police interviews in 2023, Darrell admitted to sexually abusing between six and eight victims but refused to provide their names.

While the standard sentencing range for this latest count of child molestation was 149 to 198 months, the State and the defense jointly recommended an exceptional sentence of 51 months downward, citing his ongoing consecutive sentence and his stipulation to the agreement.

Upon his eventual release, Darrell is ordered to have no contact with minors unsupervised, no contact with his victims, and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.