KINGMAN, Ariz. – A former Lake Havasu City firefighter disgraced by separate criminal indictments charging him with 21 felony offenses drew twice as many years in prison than he expected.
Richard Kelm, 49, thought he would get five years in the Arizona Department of Corrections when he arrived for his July 1 sentencing before he was escorted from the Mohave County Law and Justice Center with a decade-long prison punishment.
Kelm was first charged last summer with pandering and prostitution and nine drug-related charges before the investigation prompted a second indictment involving child pornography. The proposed plea deal dismissed the first case entirely for convictions in the second case and an agreed upon five-year prison term.
Judge Billy Sipe said it was clear that Kelm made positive contributions in Lake Havasu City and that he enjoyed “tremendous community support.”
“At some point his moral compass stopped working,” Sipe said of the defendant.
Sipe said Kelm’s criminal conduct was more egregious than the typical child porn purveyor because he purchased and possessed a VIP package of some 600 videos of victim children. He also said he was troubled by a toddler being sexually abused in a video extracted from the defendant’s cellphone and by the content of a Kelm communication indicating some sexual preferences including “teen” and “daddy-daughter” material.
“He was involved in purchasing, downloading and obviously viewing a large amount of child pornography,” Sipe said. “I just don’t have a lot of tolerance for people who victimize children.”
Sipe told attorneys he could not accept the plea agreement, but indicated he’d be amenable to a case resolution involving a 10-year prison punishment. The lawyers crafted a new plea deal that was entered and accepted following a court recess.
Kelm is convicted of four sexual exploitation of a minor-related charges. The 10-year prison term was imposed, and Kelm will serve lifetime probation upon release.
