...including the spokesman for the Fairfax County police?
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Tennessee
________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 29, 2016
Former Millington Reserve Officer
Receives 26 Years for Producing Child Pornography
Memphis, TN – A former Millington
reserve police officer has been sentenced to serve more than a quarter century
in federal prison for producing child pornography of three female minors. The
defendant also transported a minor across state lines with intent to engage in
unlawful sexual activity. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western
District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.
"Anyone who chooses to prey
on the most vulnerable members of our society deserves to be behind bars,"
said U.S. Attorney Stanton. "As a former reserve police officer, Friar was
sworn to serve and protect the citizens of our community from crime. But he
broke that oath to satisfy his own abhorrent fetishes, and will spend the next
26 years in federal prison because of his egregious acts."
According to information
presented in court, on July 13, 2015, a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Deputy
responded to a call at the Millington residence of Rickie Friar, 67. The call
was made by Friar’s housekeeper, who had stopped by the defendant’s residence
to do some chores. Friar was out of town at the time. While there, a female
minor who accompanied the housekeeper opened Friar’s iPad and showed the
housekeeper sexually explicit images of children who regularly spent time with
Friar.
A forensic examination of Friar’s
iPad, along with other electronic devices seized during a search of his
residence revealed additional videos and images of female minors engaged in
sexually explicit conduct. Friar is visible in some of the images and videos,
and his voice can be heard in others. The videos and images were produced
between July 2013 and May 2015. Two of the victims were under 12 years old at
the time; one was under the age of 18 years old.
Hours after his housekeeper
notified law enforcement of what had been seen on Friar’s iPad, Friar was
located in Arkansas, returning from a trip to Oklahoma. He had a female minor
with him. Law enforcement agents found receipts, dated a day or two earlier,
for sex toys and lubricant in Friar’s vehicle.
In May 2016, Friar pleaded guilty
before U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. to:
• one count of knowingly
transporting a minor under the age of 18 years old between the states of
Tennessee and Oklahoma for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity;
• tw0 counts of attempting to and
knowingly using a female minor under 12 years old to engage in sexually
explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such
conduct;
• one count of attempting to and
knowingly using a female minor under the age of 18 years old to engage in
sexually explicit conduct.
On Monday, August 29, 2016, Judge
Fowlkes sentenced Friar to 312 months in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the
Memphis Child Exploitation Task Force. The collective is comprised of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation; Homeland Security Investigations; Shelby
County Sheriff's Department; Memphis Police Department; U.S. Postal
Investigation Service; U.S. Marshals Service; and the U.S. Secret Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra
Ireland prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.
Anyone who believes they may have
information about this case or related activities is asked to contact the
Memphis Child Exploitation Task Force at 901.747.4300.
This case was brought as part of Project
Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the
Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual
exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the
Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals
federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute
individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For
more information about internet safety education, please visit
http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab
"resources."
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