WASHINGTON – The U.S. Marshals have added a convicted child molester to their 15 Most Wanted fugitive list. Richard Carl Heeringa is wanted in Colorado by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals led Fugitive Location and Apprehension Group Task Force.
Following a two-week trial in April 2010, a jury found Heeringa guilty of 17 counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and failure to register as a sex offender. He is facing more than 500 years in prison.
Heeringa fled in the middle of the night on April 15, 2010, the same day the jury reached their guilty verdict. He has not been seen since.
Heeringa, 55, has two other sex assault cases pending in Colorado and previously served 12 years in prison in Michigan following a sex assault conviction there.
Shortly after being released from prison in 2004, Heeringa met a single mother from Colorado. In 2005, he moved to Colorado and began living with the mother and her daughter. He soon began sexually abusing the 12 year old and continued the abuse until January 2008, when the child came forward with allegations of sexual abuse.
Authorities do not believe Heeringa will change his criminal ways and want to find him before he victimizes another young girl.
“Richard Heeringa is a predator, who has a track record of preying on young girls,” said Geoff Shank, Acting Assistant Director of the U.S. Marshals Investigative Operations Division. “We will make every effort to track this criminal down and bring him to justice.”
Heeringa has a history of working in construction and had his own construction company in the past. He is very self-sufficient and could easily make a living as a handyman. He is in good physical shape, skilled in martial arts and has been a hunter in the past, so he could live in the wilderness for a while.
He was born in Michigan and has family there. He also has ties to Georgia and California.
“This man is very dangerous and we need the public’s help to bring Herringa to justice,” said Sheriff David A. Weaver.
Heeringa is 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 200 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He has scars on his abdomen, right knee, upper left arm and face.
Heeringa is considered armed and dangerous.
A reward of up to $25,000 is offered for information leading directly to Heeranga’s arrest.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals office or the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102.
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