LEXINGTON — A Green County man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in federal prison for using a computer to entice a Madison County girl to engage in sexual activity.
Timothy Scott Richerson, 40, of Greensburg, admitted in July in U.S. District Court that he met the victim, a 14-year-old girl, on a MySpace page where he represented himself as a16-year-old male. He then began communicating via the Internet with the victim during the summer of 2007 using MSN Messenger.
Many of Richerson’s chats with the girl were sexual in nature, according to his plea agreement. He also communicated with the girl, who told him her age, by text messages and over the phone.
“(Richerson) repeatedly talked with the 14-year-old female online in detail about sexual acts he wanted to engage in with her,” the plea agreement states.
“The defendant made the 14-year-old female a video of himself masturbating and sent it to her via e-mail,” the agreement also states.
In September of 2007, Richerson — a former youth minister at Freedom Baptist Church in Campbellsville — traveled from his home to the victim’s residence, according to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
Richerson then picked up the victim and drove her to a nearby location where they kissed.
Six days later, he again made the trip to Madison County.
“They went on a motorcycle ride together and when they were alone together, the defendant digitally penetrated the 14-year-old female and she rubbed his penis,” the plea agreement states.
After meeting in person, Richerson and the female continued to have sexually explicit chats online.
The victim’s mother became suspicious after Richerson’s second visit and inspected her daughter’s cell phone, the plea agreement states. She found approximately 40 sexually explicit messages from Richerson and reported it to the Richmond Police Department.
The mother also gave police the computer in her residence, and a forensic examination found many of the sexually explicit chats and three videos of Richerson masturbating.
A search of Richerson’s residence also discovered numerous computers and related equipment, several CDs, including several pornographic videos, at least one of which contained known images of child pornography.
A few days after the search, Richerson’s wife told police she found additional items of evidence, including a printed MapQuest search from the defendant’s residence to the victim’s residence, a condom and a school picture of the 14-year-old victim, after they completed their search.
Richerson was arrested Oct. 12, 2007, in Greensburg and was indicted in U.S. District Court in March. The case was brought as part of the Eastern District of Kentucky’s efforts pursuant to Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative dedicated to protecting children from online exploitation and abuse.
“A lot of credit goes to the victim’s mother in this case,” said Hydee Hawkins, who represented the United States in this case. “She did what we wish every parent would do, that’s being nosey with your children and their activities. We can’t emphasize enough how important that is.”
Lorie Love can be reached at llove@richmondregister.com or 624-6690.
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Man gets 10 years for enticing 14-year-old
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