Man with “pedophilic disorder” committed to Missouri mental health facility

Harry Richardson
Harry Richardson(Missouri Department of Corrections)
Published: Jul. 3, 2024 at 4:47 PM CDT

RAY CO., Mo. (KCTV) - A man diagnosed with “pedophilic disorder” has been sent to a Missouri mental health facility where he will remain after multiple prison sentences served for child sexual exploitation.

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office announced on Wednesday, July 3, that the Sexually Violent Predator Unit successfully committed Harry Richardson, 47, to the Missouri Department of Mental Health. The move comes a day after his single-day bench trial in Ray County.

Law enforcement officials noted that Richardson was diagnosed with pedophilic disorder and has been convicted of sexual-related crimes at least three times since 1999. He previously pleaded guilty to child molestation in the second degree and spent three years in prison after he had sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl as she slept.

After he was released, court documents indicated that Richardson engaged in online communication with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old female, however, they were actually a law enforcement officer. Conversations were sexual in nature before he drove to meet the girl. In 2009, he was found guilty of enticement of a child.

Eight months after he was released from prison for the 2009 case, the AG’s Office said Richardson began to chat again online with a person he believed to be a 12-year-old girl, but was in fact an adult man. Messages included requests for the “child” to meet him in Missouri. He pleaded guilty to enticement of a child again as well as failure to register as a sex offender in 2014.

While in prison, court records indicated that Richardson was offered sex offender treatment on three separate occasions, but never completed them. He made various inappropriate comments during his treatment, including telling specialists that he “missed his kiddie porn.”

The AG’s Office noted that Richardson will remain in a secure mental health facility for treatment of dangerous sex offenders as a result of the Tuesday verdict. He is also required to serve lifetime supervision with the Missouri Department of Corrections.

AG Andrew Bailey indicated that the SVP Unit seeks civil commitment from sexual predators who suffer from a mental abnormality which makes them more likely than not to commit predatory, sexually violent acts if not contained to a treatment facility.