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Richard Densmore ran chat rooms as a member of 764, an
international group that targets kids online, particularly
children with mental health challenges, the U.S. Justice
Department said.
“This group seeks to do unspeakable harm to children to advance
their goals of destroying civilized society, fomenting civil
unrest and ultimately collapsing government institutions,”
Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen told reporters.
Densmore, 47, received the maximum sentence from U.S. District
Judge Hala Jarbou during an appearance in federal court in
Lansing.
“It is quite difficult, really, to overstate the depravity of
Mr. Densmore's crime and the threat that criminal networks like
764 present,” said Mark Totten, the U.S. attorney in western
Michigan.
Densmore in July pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a
child, acknowledging that he received a video of a nude girl
with his nickname written on her chest. In a court filing, the
government said that he had more victims and that his actions
made him a “sensation” among allies.
Defense attorney Christopher Gibbons did not immediately return
a message seeking comment after the sentencing. In a court
filing, he said Densmore, an Army veteran, freely admitted his
wrongdoing.
“He has not minimized the extent and wrongfulness of his
conduct,” Gibbons wrote.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Townshend said Densmore and others
bragged about having images of children cutting and abusing
themselves, “which they treated as trophies, social currency,
and leverage to extort children into a cycle of continuous
abuse.”
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