Queens Sex Offender Sentenced to More Than 21 Years’ Imprisonment for Coercion and Enticement of a Minor and Distribution of Child Pornography

 Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Richard Palmer was sentenced to 262 months’ imprisonment by United States District Judge Carol Bagley Amon, following the defendant’s guilty plea in April 2021, to coercion and enticement of a child to engage in illegal sexual conduct and distribution of child pornography.  As part of his sentence, Palmer must also serve five years’ supervised release following his imprisonment, during which time he must remain registered as a sex offender and have no unsupervised or unapproved contact with minors.

Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentence.

“Today, the defendant, a serial predator and registered sex offender, received a well-deserved, lengthy term of imprisonment for his efforts to convince a young child to engage in sexual acts by texting him thousands of obscene messages and photographs,” stated Acting United States Attorney Kasulis.  “Protecting vulnerable, underage children from sexual exploitation will always be a high priority of this Office.”  Ms. Kasulis extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI New York Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force for its investigative work and assistance.

According to court filings, in September 2019, an adult woman contacted the FBI and reported that Palmer had sent her unsolicited emails containing child pornography.  Law enforcement subsequently conducted searches of Palmer’s residence in Maspeth, Queens, and his electronic devices.  The searches revealed that Palmer had also sent thousands of text messages, including explicit and obscene photographs, to an 11-year-old child in an effort to convince that child to engage in sexual acts with him.  At the time, Palmer was a registered sex offender who had been convicted in 2010 in Queens of attempted promotion of a sexual performance by a child.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Assistant United States Attorney Devon Lash is in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

RICHARD PALMER
Age:  40
Maspeth, Queens

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-556 (CBA)