A Seattle resident, Richard Stanley Manness Jr., was convicted of producing child sexual abuse imagery in a case involving the direction and receipt of images from Vietnam. Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller announced the conviction following a three-day jury trial. Manness, 38, was found guilty of two federal felonies after jurors deliberated for about three hours.
Manness faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones on November 14, 2025.
According to court records, law enforcement authorities in Vietnam rescued two young girls who had been kidnapped in April 2024. The children were taken to an Airbnb rented by Manness’s female coconspirator. Communications between Manness and his accomplice revealed that he directed the sexual abuse of a child as young as six years old, with images sent to him over the internet. Authorities said Manness planned to travel to Vietnam for further abuse but was arrested at a Seattle apartment after Vietnamese detectives contacted Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with details about the case.
The investigation involved cooperation between HSI and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security.
Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Hampton and Cecelia Gregson prosecuted the case.
"This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc," according to officials.
