FORMER BAIT STAND OPERATOR NETS LENGTHY PRISON TERM FOR CHILD PORN CONVICTON

(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) – Richard Louis Cedor, 55, of Corpus Christi, has been sentenced to maximum term of 120 months in federal prison following his conviction of possession of child pornography, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno. Cedor was convicted on Feb. 22, 2010, after pleading guilty to the charges. 

In March 2009, Cedor possessed more than 1000 images and videos depicting adults engaged in sexually explicit conduct with minors which he obtained via the Internet on his home computer. The discovery of the images was the result of the execution of a search warrant at Cedor’s residence following an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiated in April 2006 and prompted by his subscription to various child pornography websites. In June 2009, the Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) became involved in the investigation due to Cedor’s arrest for indecency with a child, following his having allegedly exposed himself to child in the bait stand he managed in Flour Bluff, a subsection of Corpus Christi. During that arrest, CCPD officers observed chats between Cedor and a child that appeared to be of a sexual nature and a search warrant was obtained and executed at his residence in Flour Bluff. Law enforcement officers seized Cedor’s computer and a forensic analysis of it led to the discovery of numerous videos and images of child pornography.

In deciding upon the sentence she ultimately handed down today, U.S. District Court Judge Janis Graham Jack considered the need to protect the public from the potential future dangerousness Cedor represents. Judge Jack also took into account the real harm inflicted by Cedor and other like-minded criminals who re-victimize the children in these images with every viewing of their abuse. In addition to the prison term, Judge Jack also ordered Cedor to serve a lifetime term of supervised release during which he must register as a sex offender and abide by other conditions designed to protect children and limit Cedor’s access to the Internet.

Cedor has remained in federal custody without bond since his  Jan. 14, 2010, arrest by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS). The USMS had tracked Cedor to Mexico where he had previously fled the U.S. in July  2009 after being released on bond from state custody for charges related to indecency with a child. The Mexican Federal Police arrested him in Mexico at the request of the USMS and turned him over to U.S. law enforcement officials at the border between the United States and Mexico.

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, 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Duke.

 

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