A Safford, Ariz., man has been sentenced to 60 months in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.
U.S. District Judge Scott Rash sentenced Richard Lee Molinar, 44, in December for the child exploitation offenses, a news release said. Homeland Security Investigations Arizona conducted the investigation into Molinar’s crime. He will be placed on lifetime supervised release with sex offender conditions and will be required to register as a sex offender.
“This prison sentence underscores HSI’s commitment to vigorously investigate any individual who exploits the most vulnerable members of our community – our children,” Scott Brown, special agent in charge of HSI Arizona, said in the release. “HSI will not tolerate the exploitation of children and will continue to use our unique investigative authorities to bring to justice anyone who attempts to violate our children.”
Molinar pleaded guilty June 23 to one count of a six-count indictment which charged that on or about April 1, 2021, he possessed child pornography, the release reported.
“Molinar admitted to possessing a phone which he used to access, download, save and view images and 13 videos depicting minor children, many under the age of 12, who were engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” the release said. “Molinar received and distributed these images and videos using Facebook Messenger.”
Molinar’s case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative Project Safe Childhood that seeks to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, the release reported.
“Project Safe Childhood aims to protect the public long-term from the actions of defendants who seek to exploit children,” U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino said in the release. “Because of this conviction, and the diligence of our partners at Homeland Security Investigations, the defendant will be subject to stringent conditions for the rest of his life with respect to the use of the internet and participation in chat rooms and other forms of social networking.”.
