MONROE, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Richard Dean Hicks, 68, of Pioneer, Louisiana, has been convicted by a jury in Monroe following a three-day trial. United States District Judge Terry A. Doughty presided over the trial.
Hicks was charged in a superseding indictment September 27, 2023, with attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of sex trafficking of a minor, one count of promotion and solicitation of child pornography and five counts of attempted production of child pornography. The charges in the indictment stemmed from a nationwide investigation that began in 2012 into individuals who were soliciting child sex traffickers in the Philippines to share child sexual abusive material (CSAM) via live stream video. The individuals under investigation paid money for the child sex traffickers in the Philippines to sexually abuse children, while they watched and directed the sex trafficker’s sexual abuse of the children.
Through this investigation, agents with Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant at a residence in Philadelphia. As a result of evidence obtained, agents were able to identify an individual in the Philippines who was selling the sexually explicit live webcam shows of female adults engaging in the sexual abuse of underage children. Further investigation led to the identification of an individual in Louisiana, later identified as Hicks, who had been communicating with multiple females in the Philippines. From December 2017 through July 2020, Hicks and the females in the Philippines shared approximately 500 text messages and live video Skype calls wherein Hicks would pay the Philippine females to sexually abuse children as young as 5 years of age while he watched and told the women the type of sexual abuse he wanted them to perform on the children.
Evidence was introduced at trial proving that Hicks had communicated with these females in the Philippines via text messages and Skype video calls and paid money through Western Union on numerous occasions to view these individuals performing sexually explicit acts with underage children. The payments ranged from $25 to $120.
On May 31, 2022, agents obtained a federal search warrant for Hicks’ residence in Pioneer, Louisiana, and seized all of his computers and other electronic equipment used to participate in watching these sex shows in exchange for money.
The jury took just 2½ hours to reach their verdict of guilty on all counts in the indictment. Hicks was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service immediately following the verdict. Hicks faces a sentence not less than 15 years and up to life in prison, followed by up to lifetime supervised release, and a fine of up to $ 250,000. His sentencing will be set at a later date.
“This case involves some of the most heinous forms of child abuse that we have seen,” said U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown. “It is because of the determination and hard work of the agents with Homeland Security Investigations that this international investigation led to north Louisiana and the home of this defendant. Children should never be exposed to this kind of abuse and it is our calling to continue fighting to stop this kind of illegal activity by defendants like Hicks.”
"This type of abuse is uniquely insidious. Criminal buyers like Hicks pay to direct adults to sexually abuse children in other countries on livestreams that are challenging for investigators to find and disrupt. Despite the complexity of this case the jury saw the magnitude of the crime and their verdict sends the message those who victimize children will be held accountable. HSI will never cease in our efforts to dismantle these abuse networks and seek justice for the children they victimize,” said Special Agent in Charge Eric DeLaune for Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans.
The defendant who was arrested in Philadelphia was sentenced to 228 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release. The female subjects in the Philippines are still the subject of a joint ongoing investigation with the Philippines and U.S. law enforcement. Numerous other females have been arrested. Pursuant to this investigation, there have been over 300 children rescued to date.
The case was investigated by HSI New Orleans with assistance from HSI New England, divisions of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Casey N. Richmond and J. Luke Walker.