Vincentian in the USA faces additional sex charges

Former Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Sergeant, Vincentian, Javed Richards is facing added charges in his child pornography case.

The Federal charges are in addition to his 13 charges/counts of child exploitation, and one count of possession of child pornography in Marion Superior court.

Last Friday October 11, a Federal grand jury in the United States of America (USA), returned an indictment charging the 42 year old Richards with five counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material, and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material.

The indictment comes just months after Richards, an officer of 12 years, was arrested on State charges.

Richards made his initial appearance in Federal court on October 10, a month after it was reported that a cyber tip involving child sexual abuse material being uploaded and/or downloaded online was submitted to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, and later passed on to detectives assigned to the Internet Crime Against Children Unit.

According to last week’s indictment, on July 14, 2024, Richards allegedly distributed at least five videos of minors under the age of 12, engaged in sexually explicit conduct to other individuals via the Kik messenger application. The charges relate to possessing numerous images and videos of child sex abuse material on his iCloud account.

Richards has been suspended from his policing job pending a recommendation of termination to the IMPD Civilian Police Merit Board.

Richards, originally from Lowmans Windward, who visited SVG last year, was nabbed during an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, with cooperation from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

If convicted, Richards faces up to 20 years in Federal prison, but it was noted that an indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Detectives say they have found photos on the accused man’s phone of young girls under the age of 12 posing nude, among other evidence.

Richards, at the time of his arrest, was attached to the Internal Affairs Unit, a job which sees him as an investigator of officers suspected of criminal activity.

The Vincentian has had an esteemed career as a police officer in the USA. In 2015, Richards was awarded the Medal of Valour and the Purple Heart for wounds he received in a gun battle with a man on the city’s east side, while in 2016, Richards was recognized by the Indiana State Police for helping save a crash victim’s life.

Richards has pled not guilty in court and is on a $4000 cash bond. He was made to surrender three passports and firearms to the court.