An Anchorage man, Richard Dougherty, pleaded guilty to charges related to child pornography. According to court documents, Dougherty began sexually abusing a minor under 16 in his care in 2017. He created child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) by photographing and filming the abuse.
From January 2003 to April 2023, Dougherty was involved in possessing, accessing with intent to view, receiving, and distributing CSAM. Some distributed materials included videos of him abusing the minor victim.
Dougherty hid a cell phone behind bathroom mirrors in his home to secretly record people. This setup led to the production of nude images of four victims under 18.
During the investigation, over 600 images of CSAM were found in Dougherty's possession. He faces up to 30 years in prison and will be sentenced at a later date. The sentence will be determined by a federal district judge considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska, Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Murphy of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Pacific Northwest operations, and Alaska State Trooper Colonel Maurice Hughes.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the Alaska State Troopers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Brickey is prosecuting the case.
