Provo Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Production of Child Pornography

SALT LAKE CITY—Robert Bruce Ririe, age 53, of Provo, who persuaded five juveniles in five different states to take sexually explicit photographs of themselves and e-mail them to him, will serve 15 years in federal prison.

Judge Clark Waddoups imposed the sentence Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court. Judge Waddoups also ordered Ririe, who pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography last month, to be on supervised release for life when he concludes his prison sentence. FBI special agents in Salt Lake City conducted the investigation.

As a part of his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Ririe admitted that between January 24 and 28, 2010, he contacted a 12-year-old boy in Wisconsin over the Internet. From the summer of 2009 through the summer of 2010, he admitted contacting four juveniles in Maryland, Utah, Hawaii, and Alabama. Two were 16 years old and two were 17 years old at the time Ririe contacted them. In each case, Ririe, using the name Thomas Dillian Every, enticed the juveniles to e-mail him sexually explicit photographs.

Ririe came to the attention of law enforcement officials when the mother of one of the victims contacted law enforcement officials about e-mail and photo exchanges between her son and an unknown person who identified himself as Thomas Dillan Every.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ririe must register as a sex offender. He also agreed to forfeit a laptop computer, a net book, a computer hard drive, and a Blackberry. Federal prosecutors agreed to recommend that he be sent to a federal prison that provides sex offender therapy programs and that he be permitted to participate in the programs while he is incarcerated.

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.