Man Sentenced to Over 24 Years in Prison for Child Sex Offenses

LAS VEGAS—A Las Vegas man has been sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison for possessing hundreds of images of child pornography at his Las Vegas home and traveling from Nevada to Utah to engage in sex with a 15-year-old boy, announced U.S. Attorney Greg Brower of the District of Nevada.

Richard Chase, 47, was sentenced on Monday, July 27, 2009, by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro to 293 months in federal prison and lifetime supervised release for his guilty pleas to receipt of child pornography and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

In 2005, members of the Nevada Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received information that Chase was involved with child pornography in Las Vegas. On December 20, 2005, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at Chase’s residence in Las Vegas. They recovered two computers and computer storage media. A forensic examination of a compact storage disc revealed a great number of encrypted files. Agents later determined that two of the files had been encrypted with passwords in the names of two children that Chase had and was molesting. Agents determined that the disc contained over 400 images of child pornography depicting children under the age of 10 and engaged in sadistic and/ or masochistic conduct. Chase was charged with possession and receipt of child pornography, and surrendered to federal authorities on February 23, 2006. The investigation continued while Chase was in custody, and in October 2007, authorities interviewed the 16-year-old son of the defendant’s former girlfriend. The 16-year-old boy reported that Chase had sexually molested him for several years. The boy also reported that in December 2005, when the boy was 15 years old, Chase had traveled from Las Vegas to Utah for the purpose of engaging in sex with him. The boy reported that during this visit Chase engaged in several sexual acts with him.

Chase has a prior child sex conviction in 1994 in California for committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, for which he served over four years in prison. At the time Chase was charged with the crime in Las Vegas, he was current with his sex offender registration requirements.

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.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nancy J. Koppe.