A man who attempted to commit sex assault on a child will spend
the next 18 months behind bars.
Burl Richardson, 29, was sentenced this month after pleading
guilty April 6 in Douglas County District Court to felony charges
of sexual exploitation and attempted sexual assault on a child. He
contacted an undercover Parker police detective who was online
posing as a 13-year-old girl and made inappropriate advances. Once
his 18-month prison term is served, Richardson will be eligible for
designation as a sexually violent predator.
Richardson was arrested last July by the Shamokin Police
Department in Pennsylvania. Authorities had been searching for him
for quite some time after he failed to register as a sex offender
from a previous conviction.
The Parker Police Department got involved in the case as a
member of the International Crimes Against Children Task Force, a
unit that has helped secure hundreds of convictions against those
who prey on juveniles online.
The task force arrested Joe Camacho, of Aurora, in Texas in
March 2008 on a Douglas County warrant after he had allegedly
carried on conversations of a sexual nature with a person whom he
believed was a 14-year-old girl.
He was charged with 34 felony counts stemming from a series of
conversations.
Parker police were also involved in the capture of Gerald
Schell, 46, of Littleton, last November after he made sexual
advances on an online detective posing as an underage girl. Schell
worked for the Main Street Players performing arts theater in
Littleton.
