Anthony Scott Richards Sentenced in U.S. District Court

February 12, 2010 - The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on February 11, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, ANTHONY SCOTT RICHARDS, a 34-year-old resident of Rumford, Maine, appeared for sentencing. RICHARDS was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 168 months
• Special Assessment: $200
• Forfeiture: computer equipment
• Supervised Release: life

RICHARDS was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to distribution of child pornography.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On December 4, 2008, a detective with the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force was utilizing the assumed identity of a child pornographer (hereafter referred to as “John Doe”) who had been actively trading child pornography with other individuals. “John Doe” had already been arrested and allowed agents to assume his identity.

The detective sent generic off-line messages via Yahoo! Instant Messenger (IM) to all of “John Doe’s” contact list, which included “Mainebim4u,” to see if anyone would respond. The detective, posing as “John Doe,” received several off-line messages from Yahoo! during the course of a chat on February 10, 2009, including “Mainebim4u” who sent pictures of child pornography to the detective. “Mainebim4u” was later identified as Anthony Scott Richards of Maine.

RICHARDS asked the detective if he had any “good pictures” from an individual who was actually an undercover agent, who had been posing as a single female with two minor daughters. The detective indicated to RICHARDS that there were four photographs, depicting the two minor daughters naked. RICHARDS expressed interest in obtaining sexually explicit photographs of the two minor daughters and expressed interesting in talking with the individual, who was actually an undercover agent posing as a woman with two minor daughters. The detective provided RICHARDS with the undercover agent’s profile information.

RICHARDS contacted the undercover agent on March 5, 2009, and sent him a picture of child pornography.

On March 31, 2009, the Montana detective and several Maine law enforcement officers went to RICHARDS’ address in Rumford, Maine. The detective physically identified RICHARDS by name and date of birth at that address. RICHARDS confirmed he was the sole user of the Yahoo! screen name “mainebim4u,” admitted to corresponding with “John Doe’s” screen name, and admitted sending images of child pornography via the computer and the Internet.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that RICHARDS will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, RICHARDS does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “good behavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15 percent of the overall sentence.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Helena Police Department, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, and members of the Maine Computer Crimes Unit.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.