A child sex solicitation sting performed by a Vernal Police officer has resulted in criminal charges for a man in Florida. According to court documents, Detective Shaun Smith began an undercover investigation on February 17th, 2015 as a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce in which he joined a chat room and began interacting with a subject later identified as Richard Terry. Believing he was chatting with a middle-aged mother of two young girls, Terry offered to help the woman get out of debt for the chance to “love on” her two girls “in and out of the bedroom”, making specific sexual references to what he intended. Richard offered cash and “a free vacation” to fly the woman and her two daughters to Florida or to come to them in Utah. He indicated he had lost a wife who had two daughters, that he worked as a nurse educator, and wanted new young girls to watch them grow. Another offer was to get married, then divorced and that he would keep the girls. The two year investigation by Detective Smith culminated on March 9th, 2017 when 53-year-old Richard Terry interacted once again with the undercover officer offering $500 dollars per child for a weekend of sexual encounters. Based on the information provided in his investigation, Detective Smith requested in the probable cause statement that Richard Terry be charged with multiple counts of Third Degree Felony Sexual Solicitation of a Minor and that he be held without bail. The current charges filed in 8th District Court against Richard Terry are 2 counts of First Degree Felony Criminal Conspiracy. The court document states “that on or between February 17th, 2015 and April 17th, 2017, in Uintah County, the defendant did, intending that conduct constituting a crime be performed, to wit: Rape of Child, agree with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of the conduct.” The no bail warrant of arrest on Richard Terry was ordered by Judge Clark McClellan on May 24th.
