Chelan Man Given 15 Years In Prison For Sex Crimes Against Children

A Chelan man who supplied illicit drugs to children in exchange for explicit photographs and sex has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The 183-month sentence was handed down to 41-year-old Abraham Escalara by Judge Robert Jourdan in Chelan County Superior Court last Friday (Nov. 7).

Escalara's sentence stems from his guilty plea in September to charges of promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor (Class A felony); delivery of narcotics to a minor (Class B felony); commercial sexual abuse of a minor (Class B felony); and obstructing a law enforcement officer (misdemeanor).

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Escalara had originally been facing 13 felony counts and one misdemeanor, which could have seen him spend the rest of his life behind bars if he'd been found guilty at a jury trial.

Instead, his plea agreement with prosecutors allowed for an eventual sentence of 171 months in prison for three felonies and 364 days for the misdemeanor.

Court documents indicate Escalara sexually abused two teenage children on a repeated basis and also gave them fentanyl in 2021 and 2022.

He was arrested in October, 2023, after refusing to allow investigators to execute a warrant ordering him to surrender his cell phone, which was eventually searched and found to contain explicit images of a sexual nature of both children.

In a written statement that was part of his plea agreement with prosecutors, Escalara admitted to supplying the teens with fentanyl in exchange for sex and explicit images.

Chelan County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Micaela Meadows, says cases such as Escalra's typically require at least one of the victims to testify at a trial, and avoiding the trauma this would have potentially caused was a primary reason for offering the plea bargain.

In addition to the lengthy prison term, Escalara was also ordered to serve three years in community custody.