Provo Man Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Pornography; Faces 15 Years in Federal Prison

SALT LAKE CITY—Robert Bruce Ririe, age 53, of Provo, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography in federal court this week, admitting that he persuaded five juveniles to take sexually explicit photographs of themselves and e-mail them to him.

Ririe, who is in custody, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and supervised release for life when he is sentenced March 8, 2011, at 3:30 p.m. Ririe entered his guilty plea Tuesday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups.

As a part of his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Ririe admitted that between January 24 and 28, 2010, he contacted a 12-year-old boy in Wisconsin over the Internet. From the summer of 2009 through the summer of 2010, he admitted he contacted four juveniles in Maryland, Utah, Hawaii, and Alabama. Two were 16 years old and two were 17 years old at the time Ririe contacted them. In each case, Ririe enticed the juveniles to e-mail him sexually explicit photographs.

According to federal prosecutors, Ririe identified himself to the juveniles by the name Thomas Dillan Every. Ririe came to the attention of law enforcement officials when the mother of one of the victims contacted law enforcement officials about e-mail and photo exchanges between her son and an unknown person who identified himself as Thomas Dillan Every. The FBI has been investigating the case in Utah.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ririe must register as a sex offender. He also agreed to forfeit a laptop computer, a netbook, a computer hard drive, and a Blackberry as a part of the plea agreement. Federal prosecutors agreed to recommend that he be sent to a federal prison that provides sex offender therapy programs and that he be permitted to participate in the programs while he is incarcerated.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.