Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 4 ½ Years for Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material

PORTLAND, Maine: A Portland man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for possessing child sexual abuse material.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced Richard T. Rich Jr., 55, to 54 months in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Rich pleaded guilty on October 24, 2022.

According to court records, in May 2022, the Maine State Police (MSP) Computer Crimes Unit relayed to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that it was investigating Richard T. Rich Jr. for using the website Quora to solicit child sexual abuse material. After learning that Rich was a registered sex offender with prior convictions in New Jersey for aggravated sexual assault, possessing/viewing sexually explicit material and other offenses, an MSP detective and Rich’s Maine State Probation Officer visited the defendant’s Portland home and recovered numerous electronic devices that Rich was not authorized to possess. A subsequent analysis of those devices by HSI revealed child sexual abuse material.

During sentencing, Judge Torresen noted that while the defendant himself had not sexually abused the children depicted in the images, the continuing sexual abuse of the children “is fueled by your desire to see these images.”

The Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child pornography: Child sexual abuse material – "child pornography" – captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer re-victimization every time the images are viewed. File a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at https://report.cybertip.org/ or 1-800-843-5678. If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.

Project Safe Childhood: This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

###