Man sentenced to 55 years in prison for sexually assaulting 5-year-old child

Harrison, A.R. – On June 6, 2024, a Harrison, Arkansas man was sentenced to 55 years in prison without the possibility of parole for 2 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor through the production of child pornography.

According to documents, in July 2023, a 5-year-old female told her mother that Aaron Michael Ricketts, 32, had sexually assaulted her. The minor also revealed that Ricketts took nude photos of her. After arresting him, the Boone County Sheriff's Office searched his phone, which revealed several sexually explicit images and videos documenting the sexual abuse of the minor when she was just four years old. At sentencing, the United States presented evidence showing that Ricketts distributed images of the minor over the Internet and also solicited images of other minors in exchange.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Boone County Sheriff's Department, and the Harrison Police Department.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice . Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood brings together federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Advertisement