Portland man sentenced to more than 4 years for child porn

A Portland man was sentenced to prison for the possession of child sexual abuse material. Richard Rich Jr., 55, was sentenced to four and a half years in federal prison on Aug. 28, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Maine. Rich pleaded guilty on Oct. 24, 2022, to possessing child sexual abuse material. U.S. District Court judge Nancy Torreson said Rich had not abused the children in the images, but sexual abuse of children “is fueled by your desire to see these images,” the U.S. attorney’s office said. Maine State Police started investigating Rich for using Quora to solicit child sexual abuse material. He is a registered sex offender after multiple previous convictions in New Jersey, including aggravated sexual assault and possessing or viewing sexually explicit material. Police went to Rich’s Portland home and seized multiple electronic devices that he was not supposed to have, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Child sexual abuse material was found on those devices by Homeland Security Investigations. After Rich is released from prison, he will be under supervision for the rest of his life.