Sex Offender Sentenced To 10 Years For Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material

Orlando, Florida - U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced Richard W. Mills (50, Brevard County) to 10 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervision for possession of images depicting the sexual abuse of children. The court also ordered Mills to forfeit a computer and hard drive which were used in furtherance of the commission of the offense. As part of his sentence, the court also ordered Mills to pay restitution in the amount of $12,000. Mills entered a guilty plea on April 16, 2024.

According to court documents, Mills was convicted in U.S. District Court (Orlando) on November 20, 2014, for possession of child pornography and sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in federal prison, followed by a 5-year term of supervised release. Mills completed his term of incarceration on November 13, 2019, and his federal supervised release began the same date.

As a result of a citizen complaint, on November 2, 2023, officers from U.S. Probation made an unannounced visit to Mills' place of employment for inspection of his mobile device to ensure compliance with the special condition of his supervised release, specifically, that he shall not possess or use a computer with access to online service at any location without approval from the probation officer. The investigation led the probation officers to perform a home inspection, where they discovered that Mills had a smart phone and computer. Upon executing a federal search warrant, the laptop's hard drive was found to contain approximately 330 tagged thumbnail images and one video that clearly depicted the sexual abuse of infants and young children.

Additionally, Mills was sentenced to six months in federal prison for violating the terms of his supervised release. This sentence is to be served consecutive to the 10 years imposed in this criminal case.

This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilianys Rivera Miranda.

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 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, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.