Man sentenced for phone threats, child porn

Wed, Feb 3, 2010    to del.icio.us

GRAND RAPIDS — A Kent County man will spend 50 years in prison for extortion and producing child pornography.

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Richard Minch, 50, of Wyoming pleaded guilty to the charges in July 2009. He was sentenced in federal court on Monday.

From November 2008 to January 2009, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Minch called female employees at stores, restaurants and tanning salons and told them he had a gun pointed at them from outside their businesses. He said he would shoot if they did not follow his orders, which included performing sexual acts and answering money demands.

Investigators said he also told a 13-year-old girl he worked for the CIA, and ordered her to take naked pictures of herself.

As part of his sentence, Minch will be supervised by the court for the rest of his life.

— From WZZM-TV