A Kansas man arrested in Kansas by Pike County Sheriff’s Deputies back in February will now spend more than two decades in an Illinois prison.
22-year old Justin Lee Howard Richards-Olby of Wellington, Kansas pleaded guilty today to 5 counts of indecent solicitation of a child and two counts of possession of child pornography in front of Pike County Judge Charles H.W. Burch.
Richards-Olby was sentenced to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on counts 1-6. Richards-Olby was sentenced to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on count seven 7. The sentences are to be served consecutively for a total of 25 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Richards was also sentenced to lifetime sex offender registration and fines.
The case began on February 29th when the Pike County Sheriff’s Department received a complaint of indecent solicitation of a child, sexual exploitation of a child, grooming, and child pornography.
The parents of a child under the age of 13 discovered their child had been communicating with an adult male for several months through various social media websites.
The case was assigned to Chief Deputy Zack Orr, a member of the Illinois Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Chief Deputy Orr took over the messaging between the victim and the suspect. Chief Deputy Orr successfully elicited identifying information from the suspect, who still believed he was messaging the victim. Multiple search warrants were obtained and executed to identify the suspect. Upon receiving information obtained from the search warrants, Chief Deputy Orr deconflicted the information through the ICAC database and observed numerous open cases involving the suspect for possession and dissemination of child pornography in the State of Kansas.
Chief Deputy Orr identified the suspect and obtained an arrest warrant in Pike County, Illinois.
The investigation led Chief Deputy Orr and Deputy Zach Hardin to Wellington, Kansas.
Chief Deputy Orr met with members of the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the US Department of Homeland Security, and the Wellington, KS, Police Department, where law enforcement officials tracked the suspect to an apartment located in the 800 block of Woodlawn in Wellington.
On March 13th, took Richards-Olby into custody without incident and transported him to the Sumner County Jail. Chief Deputy Orr continued the investigation and executed a search warrant at the apartment, where additional electronic devices were located and seized.
Upon waiving extradition, Richards-Olby was transported to the Pike County Jail, where he remains lodged.
Other assisting agencies in the case include the Children’s Advocacy Center in Pittsfield, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, the Wichita, Kansas Police Department, Jacksonville Police Department, and the Pike County State’s Attorney’s Office.