Lima Man Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison for Coercion of Minors

COLUMBUS—Addison R. Richardson, 24, of Lima, Ohio was sentenced in U.S. District Court to serve 264 months in prison for enticing minors to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott and members of the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC); and Lima Police Chief Kevin Martin announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr.

Richardson pleaded guilty on January 30, 2014, to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. During the plea hearing, Richardson admitted to using the Internet and a cell phone to engage in sexual conversations with a 14-year-old boy who resided in northern Ohio and that he travelled to a residence in northern Ohio where he engaged in sexual activity with the boy. During the conversations with the boy, Richardson asked the boy to send nude photographs of himself, and the boy complied.

Richardson also admitted that he had communicated via e-mail and text message with an undercover officer posing as the father of 14 and nine-year-old boys and that during those communications, he had indicated his desire to engage in various illegal sexual acts with the minor children and that he had travelled to Columbus, Ohio, for the purpose of engaging in those sex acts with the children. ICAC officers arrested Richardson when he arrived in Columbus for the meeting on February 11, 2013.

“The government believes that the sentence in this case will deter other potential defendants by sending a clear message: individuals who engage in this criminal conduct in the Southern District of Ohio will face the severe and lengthy prison sentences mandated by Congress and anticipated by the sentencing guidelines,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Hill told the court.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the investigation by ICAC task force officers, FBI special agents with the Lima Resident Agency, and Lima Police officers, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Heather Hill with the Southern District of Ohio and Alissa Sterling in the Northern District of Ohio, who prosecuted the case.