A Plaza Middle School teacher in Kansas City, Missouri, was charged on April 22 with attempted child exploitation offenses in federal court.
Richard Villigram, age 43, faces one count of attempted use of an interstate facility to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and one count of attempted receipt of child pornography. The charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Villigram made his initial appearance before the court on Wednesday afternoon.
According to an affidavit submitted with the complaint, Villigram communicated online over several days with an undercover law enforcement officer who posed as a 15-year-old minor. During these conversations, he arranged to meet the individual for sexual conduct and requested pornographic images. Law enforcement arrested Villigram on April 21 after he arrived at a prearranged location where he believed he would meet the minor.
Investigators searching Villigram’s cell phone found text messages between him and the purported minor as well as messages sent to another person describing his intent to meet someone for sexual contact. According to court documents, Villigram told officers that these messages referred to his communications with the supposed minor.
Villigram is currently being held in federal custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for Monday, April 27. Authorities stress that “the charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.” Assistant U.S. Attorney David Luna is prosecuting this case alongside investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Kansas City Police Department.
This prosecution falls under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation nationwide through coordinated efforts among federal, state and local agencies.
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri supports community outreach programs addressing violent crime and drug trafficking according to its official website. The office has locations in Kansas City, Jefferson City and Springfield according to its official website, operates under affiliation with the U.S. Department of Justice according to its official website, manages prosecutions across 66 counties according to its official website, covers territory from Iowa’s border southward through Arkansas’ border eastward halfway across Missouri according to its official website, and works closely with law enforcement partners at all levels according to its official website.
