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Press Release

Hastings Man Sentenced for Failing to Register

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nebraska

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Michael Brandon Richardson, 29, formerly of Hastings, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska, to 2 years in prison by Senior United States District Judge Richard G. Kopf, for failing to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).  After his release from prison, Richardson will serve five years on supervised release and still be required to register.   

SORNA, also known as the Adam Walsh Protection and Safety Act, requires that a convicted sex offender register in each jurisdiction where the offender resides, where the offender is employed, or where the offender is a student, and that the sex offender maintain current registrations.

Richardson was convicted previously of Sexual Assault/Incompetent - 3rd Degree (a Misdemeanor) on January 13, 2009, in Nuckolls County District Court, Nebraska, and was required to register as a sex offender for 15 years.  After that conviction, Richardson relocated to Georgia where he initially registered but then failed to re-register, and a warrant was issued.  In February, 2018, the Nebraska State Patrol was informed by Georgia law enforcement that Richardson appeared to have obtained a Nebraska driver’s license in November, 2017, and had listed an address in Hastings.  After investigation it appeared that Richardson had been living and working in Hastings since June of 2017, but was now living in Superior, Nebraska.  The Nebraska State Patrol confirmed that Richardson had not registered as a sex offender in Nebraska since his return from Georgia.  Richards was arrested by the U.S. Marshals in August, 2018, and has remained in custody since that time.

This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol and the United States Marshals Service.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Updated January 25, 2019

Topic
Project Safe Childhood