A Brevard County man, previously convicted for possession of child pornography, has been sentenced again for similar crimes. Richard W. Mills, aged 50, received a 10-year federal prison term followed by lifetime supervision for possessing images of child sexual abuse. As declared by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron, alongside the sentence, Mills must forfeit a computer and hard drive used to commit the offense and pay $12,000 in restitution, according to a Department of Justice release.
Mills, who pled guilty on April 16, faced the consequences of violating the terms of his supervised release from a 2014 conviction, during which he served nearly seven years in federal prison. An unexpected check at Mills’ workplace by U.S. Probation officers on November 2, 2023, eventually led to a home search, revealing his possession of a smartphone and computer, devices he was prohibited from using unrestrained by his release conditions.
During the warranted search, officials discovered roughly 330 images and one video that depicted heinous abuse of infants and children on Mills' laptop. Following this discovery, the courts awarded Mills an additional six-month imprisonment for breaching his supervised release—this sentence will be tacked on after completing the 10-year term.
