Richard Dean Hicks, Child Pornography, Louisiana 2023

MONROE, La.

A federal jury in Monroe convicted Richard Dean Hicks, 68, of Pioneer, Louisiana, on charges of sexual exploitation, trafficking and production of child pornography involving children in the Philippines.

According to the investigation, Hicks communicated with multiple females in the Philippines via text messages and Skype video calls. For approximately three years, Hicks paid the females to sexually abuse children as young as 5 years old while he watched and directed the abuse.

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant at Hicks’ residence in Pioneer, Louisiana, and seized all of his computers and other electronic equipment used to participate in the abuse.

The jury took just 2½ hours to reach a verdict of guilty on all counts in the indictment. Hicks faces a sentence not less than 15 years and up to life in prison, followed by up to lifetime supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown called the case ‘some of the most heinous forms of child abuse we have seen.’ Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Eric DeLaune stated that ‘this type of abuse is uniquely insidious’ and that HSI will continue to seek justice for the children victimized.

Hicks’ sentencing will be set at a later date. The investigation began in 2012 and involved a nationwide search for individuals soliciting child sex traffickers in the Philippines to share child sexual abusive material via live stream video.

This is not an isolated incident. In a related case, a defendant arrested in Philadelphia was sentenced to 228 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for similar crimes.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Sex Crimes

Benigno Gonzalez-Mendoza, Receipt of Child Pornography, New Jersey 2024

Jan 6, 2022

Sex Crimes

Lawrence Fourkiller, Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child, Oklahoma 2024

Nov 4, 2024

Sex Crimes

Kevondric Fezia, Sex Trafficking, Louisiana 2022

Jun 24, 2022

Sex Crimes

Pedro Luis Millan, Child Exploitation Conspiracy, California 2021

Oct 23, 2024