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King County prosecutors have filed child pornography charges against three Seattle brothers – including one who for decades worked as a janitor at Seattle Children’s hospital – caught with a disturbing collection of images, child’s clothing and handwritten notes in their home.

Charles, Edwin and Thomas Emery lived together in a Green Lake-neighborhood home covered “floor to ceiling with child exploitative images, children’s clothing articles, toys and movies,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Cecelia Gregson said in charging papers. Gregson noted that the investigation is ongoing into handwritten notes found at the home describing the murder of children.

“Charles Emery maintained an extensive ‘collection’ of materials related to the sexual assault and murder of female children,” Gregson said. “Edwin and Thomas Emery referred to Charles Emery’s manifestos detailing child rape and homicide and his extensive collection of items related thereto as ‘Charles’ hobby.”

Childless and unmarried, the Emery brothers lived together for more than 50 years, most recently in the 100 block of Northeast 59th Street. A police investigation was launched Aug. 9 after a woman contacted officers claiming they sexually abused her.

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The woman pointed police to boxes of child pornography, girls’ clothing and magazine clippings related to missing or murdered young girls. Investigators claim to have recovered handwritten notes describing the kidnapping, torture, rape and murder of girls.

Seattle Police Department Capt. Mike Edwards said investigators are combing evidence recovered from the home to determine whether the brothers may have killed or hurt children beyond the identified victims they are believed to have sexually abused.

“A lot of these writings were very specific about harming children, abusing children and even murdering children,” said Edwards, who leads the regional Internet Crimes Against Children unit based at the Seattle Police Department.

“The house itself was like one of the worst houses you’d ever see on an episode of ‘Hoarders,’” Edwards continued. "We don’t want to miss anything.”

According to charging papers, the woman discovered the boxes while cleaning out Charles Emery's possessions. Charles Emery, 82, was recently moved into a nursing home due to dementia.

Interviewed by detectives, Thomas Emery, 80, and Edwin Emery, 78, initially claimed they hadn't entered the garage where those boxes were stored in years, Detective Danial Conine said in court papers said.

Investigators searched the Emery home on Saturday. They spent more than 30 hours scouring the home, which they described as a "hoarder" house.

Edwards said the men appeared to have closed themselves off from much of the world, except for a fourth brother who lived in Shelton and died in late 2016. Police searched his property as well.

Detectives will attempt to piece together a history of the Emery brothers in coming days. What appears clear, Edwards said, is that they had been abusing girls known to them for decades without a report to police.

One woman told police she had been abused by Charles and Edwin Emery as a child, according to charging papers. Charles Emery was working at Seattle Children’s hospital when the abuse occurred.

“The one message we beat the drum over all the time is, ‘Report it, report it, report it,’” Edwards said. “These types of cycles can only be broken if someone speaks out.”

Printed child pornography was found throughout the home, according to charging papers. Thomas and Edwin Emery were arrested at the scene.

"Both Emery brothers remained nonchalant and relatively unconcerned about the serious nature of the investigation," Conine said in court papers.

Edwin Emery admitted to being sexually attracted to children, while Thomas Emery told investigators he kept hundreds of items of child pornography because he "considered it art," according to charging papers.

"Both Thomas and Edwin Emery denied knowledge of child homicide, but would reply to law enforcement questions on the topic that it was 'possible' if everything the officers was saying was true," Conine said.

Investigators will now undertake the difficult work of identifying the girls displayed in child pornography taken from the homes. Edwards said some of the material appeared to have been obtained online, but that it was too early to know whether the brothers had produced any on their own.

Writing the court, Conine outlined the bizarre, disturbing collection of items recovered from the home:

“Dozens of pairs of children’s shoes most of which are penny loafer-style shoes with pennies inserted in the front of the shoes; several pairs of minor female children-style underwear … ; dozens of books and articles related to child homicide, child sexual assault, and missing and murdered female child victims to include both local and national cases; dozens of images of minor female children apparently taken from advertisements placed in magazines and newspapers on which some contain handwritten notes concerning the sexual abuse and murder of the depicted child and/or children;

“Dozens of papers and scraps of papers containing handwritten notes detailing ritualistic and satanic sacrifices of minor female children, the sexual abuse of minor female children, the grooming and supplying of minor female children with vodka placed inside soda pop … and the repeated detailed description of how the minor female children would wear penny loafer shoes prior to the abuse and murder.”

Conine went on to note that investigators found numerous books on ritualistic killings, graphic photos of child homicides and airplane bottles of vodka tucked inside the children’s shoes. Several rolls of microfiche film were also recovered.

Edwin Emery had been investigated in 2013 after bringing his desktop computer to Office Depot for service. An employee reported to police that the computer contained child pornography.

According to Conine’s statement, Edwin Emery was interviewed by police in 2013 and admitted to sexually abusing at least two people many years before. He also is alleged to have admitted to printing child pornography.

That investigation did not ultimately result in charges because most of the material found on Edwin Emery’s computer was not clearly child pornography, Edwards said.

The Emery brothers are being held at King County Jail. They have been charged with second-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.