A 78-year-old Fouke, Ark., man received a total 36-year sentence Tuesday after pleading guilty to nine felonies involving the sexual abuse of two teen boys.
Kenneth Wayne Richards walked with a cane as he entered a second-floor courtroom of the Miller County Courthouse for a plea hearing Tuesday morning. As Richards stood with Texarkana lawyer Joe Tyler before Circuit Judge Carlton Jones, a group of Miller County citizens summoned for jury duty filled the hallway outside.
Testimony was scheduled to begin in Richards' trial following jury selection but his change of plea made the jury panel's service unnecessary. Richards pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree sexual assault, six counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of sexual indecency with a child. All of the charges involve two male victims in their early teens.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kristian Robertson said part of Richards' plea agreement included dismissal of three additional felony counts and a reduction of a single count of rape to sexual assault. In light of Richards' age, the 36-year term he accepted Tuesday may well be a life sentence. If Richards is released from prison, he must register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.
Richards was arrested in November 2017 after several boys reported they had been doing some work for Richards for about two weeks when he began trying to inappropriately touch them while driving around, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account.
The boys claim Richards gave them tobacco and beer and encouraged them to watch pornography with him in his home. Richards is accused of performing sexual acts on the two alleged victims, ages 14 and 16, and of exposing himself on repeated occasions. Evidence of the abuse was collected from one of the victim's cell phones.
Richards has been free on bond for most of the time his cases have been pending, though he has been required to remain on house arrest and wear a GPS leg monitor. Tuesday morning following his hearing, Richards shuffled out of the courtroom in the custody of Alan Fincher, a certified law enforcement officer who serves as an investigator for the Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Richards will be held in the Miller County jail until he is transported to a unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction.
"Kenneth Richards was a predator in our community. He enticed teen aged boys to spend time with him by giving them alcohol and marijuana and by showing them pornographic videos," Robertson said. "Our community is a much safer place for our children as a result of Mr. Richards going to prison."
Richards received the following sentences:
- count 1, fourth-degree sexual assault, six years
- count 2, second-degree sexual assault, 20 years
- count 3, second-degree sexual assault, 16 years
- count 4, second-degree sexual assault, 16 years
- count 5, second-degree sexual assault, 16 years
- count 6, second-degree sexual assault, 20 years
- count 7, second-degree sexual assault, 20 years
- count 8, sexual indecency with a child, six years
- count 9, sexual indecency with a child, six years
As part of his plea agreement, most of the charges will run concurrently. Count three will run consecutively to count two, meaning Richards received a total 36-year term.