“These victims were not candy in a dish for you to take out the one you liked.”
Richard Stanley Maness Jr. was convicted in August 2025 of conspiracy to produce child sexual abuse material and production of such material after a three-day jury trial. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones, who imposed the sentence, underscored the trauma inflicted on the victims, sisters ages 4 and 7.
“These victims were not candy in a dish for you to take out the one you liked,” Jones said during the hearing. “In the mind of that 7-year-old, you were a monster directing the pain she suffered.”
According to court documents, law enforcement in Vietnam rescued the two girls in April 2024 after they were abducted from the street and taken to an Airbnb rented by Maness. A female coconspirator transported the children and carried out abuse at Maness’s direction, sending him photos and videos over the internet. Investigators found messages showing Maness instructing the coconspirator to assault a child as young as six and planning to travel to Vietnam for further abuse.
Vietnamese authorities alerted Homeland Security Investigations, leading to Maness’s arrest on August 28, 2024, at an apartment in Seattle. He has been in custody since.
Prosecutors urged the court to impose the full 30-year term, arguing that Maness remains a danger and has refused to accept responsibility. In a sentencing memo, they described his conduct as “monstrous” and said he continued to advance “a preposterous and wholly incredible story” denying wrongdoing.
US Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said the sentence reflects the government’s commitment to protecting vulnerable children both in the United States and overseas. “Mr. Maness remains a danger, unable to accept the harm he has done,” Floyd said.
Judge Jones also ordered 20 years of supervised release after Maness leaves prison.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted in gathering evidence from overseas. Assistant US Attorneys Matthew Hampton and Cecelia Gregson prosecuted the case. The prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood, a Justice Department initiative launched in 2006 to combat child exploitation and sexual abuse.
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