Slaton Police Officer Richard Lee Lewis Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charge

Slaton Police Officer Richard Lee Lewis

An update to an earlier story about Slaton Police Officer Richard Lee Lewis:

A Slaton police officer, as part of a plea deal, has plead guilty to a felony count of receiving child pornography.

Richard Lee “Rick” Lewis, 50, now faces a statutory sentence of not less than five years or more than 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and up to a lifetime of supervised release following his plea before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings in Lubbock federal court.

Lewis remains on a personal recognizance bond.

The judge ordered an investigation report and a sentencingdate will be set after the report is submitted to the Court.

Back in June, Lewis pleaded not guilty to six pornography related charges after a federal grand jury indicted him on six counts of transporting, receiving and possessing sexual images of children.

Lewis voluntarily surrendered to federal authorities in May and was released on his own recognizance.

Days after resigning from the Slaton Police Department, he surrendered to authorities when it became known the Department of Homeland Security had him under investigation.

During his career with the Slaton Police Department, Lewis served as the officer assigned to Slaton schools.

Federal agents searched Lewis’ home May 11 and seized three computers, 80 CDs and 10 VHS tapes, according to court documents.

Slaton Police Chief Royce Goodson said investigators also took Lewis’ work computer after receiving consent to search it.

A forensic examination of Lewis’ computers produced numerous files containing images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit behavior - including [filtered word] and bestiality, according to court documents.

Lewis told investigators he would usually delete the child pornography after he viewed it, court documents show.