Lewiston Man Sentenced to Almost 22 Years for Receiving Child Pornography

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Nicholas T. Richard, 39, of Lewiston, Maine, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge George Z. Singal to 262 months in prison and supervised release for life for receiving child pornography images. He was also ordered to pay $7,500 in restitution to the victims depicted in the images.  Richard pleaded guilty on November 20, 2017.

According to court records, in February of last year, Richard used the internet and peer-to-peer file-sharing software to download child pornography images. Richard was at the Auburn Public Library when he downloaded the images using the library’s wireless internet connection. Investigators seized Richard’s laptop computer and other electronic devices from him at the library and obtained a search warrant for them. The laptop contained thousands of images and videos depicting child pornography and child erotica. Richard was subject to an enhanced sentence because of a prior federal child pornography conviction.

The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and the Auburn Police Department.  The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide U.S. Department of Justice initiative to locate, apprehend and prosecute people who sexually exploit children.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.