KANSAS MAN ARRESTED IN PIKE COUNTY CHILD EXPLOITATION CASE

PITTSFIELD - A Wellington, Kansas, man is in custody following an investigation involving alleged online contact with a child in Pike County, Illinois, according to the Pike County Illinois Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities say the case began after the parents of a child under the age of 13 discovered their child had been communicating online with an adult male for several months. Investigators later determined the suspect also had multiple open cases in Kansas involving the possession and distribution of child pornography.

Sheriff’s officials, along with other agencies, tracked the suspect to an apartment in the 800 block of Woodlawn in Wellington, Kansas. At approximately 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, 22-year-old Justin Lee Howard Richards-Olby was taken into custody and initially held in the Sumner County Jail.

Investigators executed a search warrant at the residence, where additional electronic devices were seized as part of the ongoing investigation. Richards-Olby was later transported to the Pike County Jail and is currently being held on five counts of indecent solicitation of a child, class 1 felonies, and two counts of child pornography, class X felonies.

Multiple agencies assisted in the investigation, including the Children’s Advocacy Center in Pittsfield, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas ICAC Task Force, Wellington Police Department, Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Wichita Police Department.