Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Receipt and Possession of Images of Child Rape

          A registered sex offender with prior convictions for raping a 12-year-old girl he met via the internet, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 20 years in prison for two federal felonies involving his receipt and possession of images of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  RICHARD DAVID BLICK, 65, formerly of Edmonds, Washington was indicted in September 2017, following an investigation by the King County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  BLICK was convicted in March 2018 following a two-day trial.  U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour ordered BLICK to be supervised by federal probation for the rest of his life following the prison sentence.

          “Despite incarceration, treatment, supervision, and sex offender registration, this defendant remains a predator, using the internet to seek out children that he can exploit,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  “He has proved time and again that he poses an ongoing and substantial threat to community safety.  As a result, this long prison sentence is the only way to protect our kids from his crimes.”

            According to records in the case and testimony at trial, the electronic service provider Dropbox made a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that an account later linked to BLICK was uploading pictures of child pornography.  The subsequent law enforcement investigation revealed BLICK owned the Dropbox account and that he was a Level 3 registered sex offender with a 2001 conviction for raping a 12-year-old girl.  In August 2017, law enforcement served search warrants on BLICK’s residence, an RV in Edmonds.  On BLICK’s various electronic devices were thousands of images of child pornography as well as chats and videos with a 14-year-old California child whom BLICK convinced to send him sexually explicit images.  BLICK has been in federal custody since his arrest in August 2017.

            “Each time an image of child exploitation is shared online, the child in that image is victimized all over again.  Law enforcement discovered thousands of images on Blick’s electronic media, including the fact that he convinced a minor to send him sexually explicit images.  He represents the worst kind of criminal, one who preys on innocent children.  Let today’s sentencing be a warning to other child predators; law enforcement officers are actively looking for you and will ensure you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Brad Bench, special agent in charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Seattle.

          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.justice.gov/psc

            The case was investigated by the King County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

            The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Hampton and Special Assistant United States Attorney Cecilia Gregson.  Ms. Gregson is a Senior King County Deputy Prosecutor specially designated to prosecute child exploitation cases in federal court.