A 25-year-old Poulsbo man has been sentenced to 34 months in prison after pleading guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material over a three-year span.
Judge Cadine Ferguson-Brown issued the sentence on July 27 in Kitsap County Superior Court, accepting the defendant’s guilty plea to two counts of possessing visual depictions of minors in sexually explicit conduct—both involving children under the age of 13.
The two prison terms will be served at the same time, with an additional three years of community custody to follow under the supervision of the Department of Corrections.
The prison term aligns with the joint recommendation from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Barbara Dennis and the Department of Corrections.
The defendant, James David Manzanares, has been incarcerated since his arrest on May 29, 2025, and will earn credit for the nearly 14 months already served toward the 34-month sentence.
A Years-Long Digital Trail
Evidence in the case originated from multiple reports submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by tech platforms including X Corp, Google, Dropbox, and Kik.
These reports, compiled by Detective Timothy Flint of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, pointed to an online identity “Nova Astralis”—a name Manzanares used and favored over his legal one.
Materials reviewed by investigators included still images and videos showing abuse of children as young as four or five.
One report from X contained a chat transcript in which the “Nova Astralis” account shared a sexually explicit image with another user who identified as 16 years old.
Subcomcast subscriber information connected uploads of the material to a residence on Beach Drive NE in Poulsbo, where Manzanares maintained an independent internet subscription.
Detectives executed a search warrant at that home on the day of his arrest and secured digital evidence supporting charges spanning from June 1, 2022, to May 29, 2025.
At the time of arrest, Manzanares had been working part-time as an office assistant at Olympic College in Bremerton; his employment ended shortly before or after the charges were filed, according to the pre-sentence report.
An Earlier Investigation Ended Without Charges
This case marks the second time law enforcement has examined Manzanares’ conduct.
In 2021, the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office reviewed six similar CyberTips tied to the same phone number and online accounts.
That matter was forwarded to the county prosecutor’s office, but no formal charges resulted, and the time window for prosecution on the earlier conduct has since closed.
“Just About Every Day”
During a pre-sentence interview, Manzanares described how his engagement with sexual content evolved: beginning with traditional adult material, expanding to animated content, and eventually intensifying with real-life child sexual abuse material, which he consumed “just about every day.”
The report noted that it was “troubling” he had also exchanged explicit material with minors across social media and file-sharing platforms—an activity the probation officer viewed as reflective of an underlying attraction that outweighed his awareness of potential repercussions.
Judge Ferguson-Brown approved the recommended conditions, which mandate that Manzanares register as a sex offender, undergo a state-certified sexual deviancy treatment program, and submit to polygraph examinations at his own expense. He is also prohibited from having contact with minors under 16 unless prior authorization is granted.
He may not own internet-capable devices, use social media, or utilize file-sharing services without approval and monitoring by his community corrections officer.