Folsom Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Sexual Abuse Material

Folsom resident Paul Joseph Richards, 51, pleaded guilty May 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California to one count of receipt of child sexual abuse material.

The plea covers Richards' knowing receipt of images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Federal law defines the offense under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2), which carries a statutory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years for a first-time offender.

The case forms one data point in the Justice Department's ongoing enforcement against online distribution networks. The department has not released aggregate figures for the Eastern District in 2026, but the single defendant's plea directly affects sentencing calculations that include victim counts, volume of material possessed, and use of computer equipment.

Sentencing remains scheduled for a future date set by the court; Richards faces supervised release of five years to life following any prison term.

The guilty plea changes the procedural posture from pretrial litigation to post-conviction proceedings. Probation officers must now complete a presentence investigation report that quantifies the scope of Richards' conduct, including the number of known victims and any evidence of distribution.

That report will dictate the advisory guidelines range the judge must consider. The change takes legal effect immediately upon acceptance of the plea; the only remaining step before final judgment is the sentencing hearing.

Downstream, the conviction requires the Bureau of Prisons to designate an appropriate facility once the sentence is imposed. It also obligates the court to order restitution to identified victims under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act and to impose sex-offender registration conditions upon release.

Federal prosecutors must next prepare for any parallel asset-forfeiture actions tied to devices used in the offense. The case will be cited in future Eastern District plea negotiations as an executed example of the five-year mandatory minimum for receipt violations.

This marks the latest individual prosecution drawn from investigative referrals that originate with federal agencies and internet service providers. The Department of Justice has used the same statute in hundreds of cases annually since Congress strengthened penalties in the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

The Eastern District of California has maintained a dedicated caseload in this category for more than a decade.