By Kevin Murphy
For the Times
MADISON - A rural Darlington man was sentenced to the mandatory minimum 25 years in prison Wednesday in federal court followed by lifetime supervised release for making sexually explicit videos of young girls.
Authorities searching Timmy J. Reichling's parents' residence in August 2013, found videos and photographs containing "millions" of images of child pornography including those of four victims he had contact with, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Przybylinski Finn.
Reichling, 47, operated a computer repair business and lived with his parents. Shortly after being released from prison in 2008 for a probation violation he began soliciting girls by email to send him nude pictures, said Przybylinski Finn.
He gave a camera to one minor so she could take and send him photos, Przybylinski Finn said.
In a sexually explicit videotape he made of an 8- or 9-year-old female, Reichling can be seen wearing an electronic bracelet that some offenders on probation wear, Przybylinski Finn said.
"That's how we could identify him," she told District Judge Barbara Crabb.
Between March 2008 and October 2009, Reichling posed as a teenage boy on Facebook seeking nude photos from minor females. A 13-year-old Michigan girl sent him photos and another 13-year-old girl also sent him similar photos of herself, said Przybylinski.
When the girls wanted to stop, Reichling coerced them to continue by threatening to send the photos to their families, Przybylinski said.
Reichling also hid a video camera in a bathroom and made a sexually explicit video of a 16-year-old girl, said Przybylinski Finn.
A prior conviction for second degree sexual assault using force made him eligible for the 25-year mandatory minimum sentence, said Crabb. He twice violated his probation, which resulted in other prison terms.
Przybylinski Finn and Riechling's attorney, Robert Ruth, recommended a 25-year sentence.
"He's ashamed of himself and acknowledges what he did was wrong and admits that he did it ... there's nothing more to say," said Ruth.
Reichling, who pleaded guilty in June, to the child pornography offense, declined to speak in his behalf.
Crabb said there was little she could say "that will change the person that you are."
"You're struck with that person and so are your victims," she said.
"You took advantage of their youth, you took advantage of your ability to manipulate them and accept your overtures," Crabb continued.
Reichling faces multiple felony counts of child sexploitation, possession of child pornography and photographing a minor without consent in Lafayette County. Crabb declined to make Reichling's sentence consecutive to any sentence he may receive in Lafayette County.
Reichling is a life registrant of the state's sex offender registry.
For the Times
MADISON - A rural Darlington man was sentenced to the mandatory minimum 25 years in prison Wednesday in federal court followed by lifetime supervised release for making sexually explicit videos of young girls.
Authorities searching Timmy J. Reichling's parents' residence in August 2013, found videos and photographs containing "millions" of images of child pornography including those of four victims he had contact with, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Przybylinski Finn.
Reichling, 47, operated a computer repair business and lived with his parents. Shortly after being released from prison in 2008 for a probation violation he began soliciting girls by email to send him nude pictures, said Przybylinski Finn.
He gave a camera to one minor so she could take and send him photos, Przybylinski Finn said.
In a sexually explicit videotape he made of an 8- or 9-year-old female, Reichling can be seen wearing an electronic bracelet that some offenders on probation wear, Przybylinski Finn said.
"That's how we could identify him," she told District Judge Barbara Crabb.
Between March 2008 and October 2009, Reichling posed as a teenage boy on Facebook seeking nude photos from minor females. A 13-year-old Michigan girl sent him photos and another 13-year-old girl also sent him similar photos of herself, said Przybylinski.
When the girls wanted to stop, Reichling coerced them to continue by threatening to send the photos to their families, Przybylinski said.
Reichling also hid a video camera in a bathroom and made a sexually explicit video of a 16-year-old girl, said Przybylinski Finn.
A prior conviction for second degree sexual assault using force made him eligible for the 25-year mandatory minimum sentence, said Crabb. He twice violated his probation, which resulted in other prison terms.
Przybylinski Finn and Riechling's attorney, Robert Ruth, recommended a 25-year sentence.
"He's ashamed of himself and acknowledges what he did was wrong and admits that he did it ... there's nothing more to say," said Ruth.
Reichling, who pleaded guilty in June, to the child pornography offense, declined to speak in his behalf.
Crabb said there was little she could say "that will change the person that you are."
"You're struck with that person and so are your victims," she said.
"You took advantage of their youth, you took advantage of your ability to manipulate them and accept your overtures," Crabb continued.
Reichling faces multiple felony counts of child sexploitation, possession of child pornography and photographing a minor without consent in Lafayette County. Crabb declined to make Reichling's sentence consecutive to any sentence he may receive in Lafayette County.
Reichling is a life registrant of the state's sex offender registry.