PIERRE, (KCCR) — A Winner man has been found guilty by a federal jury on two counts of Sex Trafficking of a Child and two counts of Production of Child Pornography. U-S Attorney Alison Ramsdell says 67 year-old Richard Kucera was found guilty on the charges following a four-day trial in Pierre last week. Kucera and a co-defendant, 37 year-old Ivy Heron of Winner were indicted on the charges in August 2023. Ramsdell says evidence at trial showed that from 2019 to 2021, Kucera and Heron had an agreement to recruit local girls to engage in sex acts with Kucera for money. Heron would get a fee for each recruitment From 2020 to 2021 Heron recruited two 16 year-old females to engage in sex acts with Kucera with Kucera paying the victims. Kucera also produced child pornography with the girls and posted the videos to Facebook. The arrangement was discovered when the girls talked with law enforcement. Heron pleaded in April to Conspiracy to Engage in Sex Trafficking of a Child and is awaiting sentencing. Kucera could face 50 years in prison as a maximum sentence.
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