Moore sentenced to 25+ years in prison
A 66-year-old Wallace man was sentenced Monday to more than a quarter century in state prison for multiple sex crimes against children.
In Lincoln County District Court, Richard L. Moore received a term of 25 to 35 years for first-degree sexual assault of a child, and three years for third-degree sexual assault of a child. Moore also has to register as a sex offender.
The sentences will run one after another. They stem from assaults that reportedly occurred at Sutherland Reservoir on multiple occasions in the summer of 2019 and involved two victims.
Moore addressed the court before Judge Michael Piccolo sentenced him.
He expressed remorse for his actions and said he wished it hadn’t happened, or that it was possible to “turn back the clock” and change things.
He said that isn’t possible and said he hopes the victims and family are able to heal from the damage he caused, and eventually find closure and go forward in their lives.
Moore also apologized to the court for “everything that I have done,” and told Piccolo that he would accept the sentence handed down.
Piccolo told Moore that his decision factored in the seriousness of the offenses, the age of the victims — both of whom were preteens — and the “life-altering impact” on them.
Moore was initially charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child, three counts of third-degree sexual assault of a child and three counts of intentional child abuse with no injury.
Six of the eight felonies were dismissed in a plea agreement.
Moore pleaded no contest to the other two felonies on Feb. 9.
Moore’s legal issues are not over.
He also was charged in U.S. District Court in November 2019 with two counts of production of child pornography and a count of possession of child pornography. A change-of-plea hearing is scheduled for May 12 in Lincoln. It is anticipated that Moore will plead guilty, according to court documents.
He was arrested on a warrant Oct. 21, 2019, after an investigation by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. He was jailed in the Lincoln County Detention Center with no bail.
Investigators from the Lincoln County and Perkins County sheriff’s offices searched Moore’s rural residence and removed two covered trailers full of suspected evidence, including video and computer equipment and recorded pornography.