A Rumford man remained in federal custody on Wednesday in Montana, a week after admitting in federal court that he e-mailed sexually explicit photos of children from his Pine Street home to undercover investigators in Montana.

Anthony Scott Richards, 34, of 244½ Pine St., pleaded guilty before U. S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy in Missoula on Oct. 21 to distribution of child pornography, according to Oct. 22 reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Montana.

A sentencing date has yet to be set for Richards, who faces from five to 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervision, according to District of Montana U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer.

Had Richards not pleaded guilty, Mercer said Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd would have proved at Richards' trial that the Rumford man had e-mailed child pornography to state and federal investigators via Yahoo! Instant Messenger.

In Hurd's Offer of Proof, the government stated that on Dec. 4, 2008, a detective with the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force had assumed the online identity of a child pornographer who had been actively trading child pornography with other people.

The child pornographer had been arrested and allowed agents to assume his identity, Hurd said.

The detective sent generic offline messages via Yahoo! Instant Messenger to everyone on the person's contact list, which included "Mainebim4u," to see whether anyone would respond.

While chatting as the child pornographer on Feb. 10, 2009, the detective received several offline messages from Yahoo!, including "Mainebim4u," who also sent pictures of child pornography to the detective, Hurd said.

The identity of "Mainebim4u" was later found to be Anthony Scott Richards of Rumford, she said.

Hurd said Richards asked the detective if he had any "good pictures" from an individual who was actually an undercover agent posing as a single female with two minor daughters.

The detective told Richards there were four photographs depicting the two minor daughters naked, she said.

Richards wanted the sexually explicit photographs of the two minor daughters and asked to talk with the "mother," Hurd said.

The detective gave Richards profile information on the undercover agent, whom Richards contacted on March 5, 2009, and sent him a picture of child pornography, Hurd said.

Based on the FBI and Montana task force investigation, Richards was arrested on March 31 by the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and charged with felony possession of child pornography.

Rumford police subsequently arrested Richards on April 2 on a charge of sexually touching a young Rumford girl, whose photograph was among those sent over Yahoo! Instant Messenger.

Richards remained free on bail from both charges until April 8 when U.S. Secret Service agents picked him up. In mid-April, he was extradited to Montana to await trial.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com