A sex offender on lifetime supervision for a child-pornography conviction was identified Wednesday as the third victim killed when a speeding Amtrak train derailed in Washington state.
Benjamin Gran, 40, of Auburn, Washington, died of multiple traumatic injuries from the massive wreck, the Pierce County coroner’s office told The Associated Press.
Gran was busted in 2013 after authorities uncovered his friendship with a notorious Dutch pedophile, Robert Mikelsons, who sexually abused at least 86 boys while working at a day care center in Amsterdam, and made video recordings of some assaults.
Gran — who met Mikelsons through a since-defunct website, BoyLover.net, and visited him several times — pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and served a two-year prison sentence before being released on Dec. 31, 2015, records show.
A spokeswoman for Seattle US Attorney Annette Hayes told the AP that prosecutors were notified about his death on Wednesday.
Gran was one of three passengers killed on Amtrak 501 as it made its inaugural, high-speed run between Seattle and Portland on Monday morning.
Officials have said the train was going 80 mph in a 30 mph zone when it jumped the tracks and plunged off an overpass onto a busy highway below.
The other people killed in the crash were identified Tuesday as transit-buff pals Jim Hamre, 61, and Zack Willhoite, 35.
About 100 people, including some traveling on the roadway, were injured.