New Town man sentenced to 15 year in prison for child sexual abuse

(New Town, ND) -- A North Dakota man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison following pleading guilty to sexually abusing a minor on multiple occasions.

A U.S District Court Judge sentenced 51-year-old Richard Hall following a guilty plea earlier this year to 15 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release. Hall pled guilty to Abusive Sexual Contact of a child and Sexual Contact of an Unconscious Person. Court documents say Hall intentionally "touched the clothed breast and inner thigh area of a minor female under the age of 12 years" on one occasion, and touched "the breast, buttocks, and genitals of the same minor child" in a second incident.

“In cases like this, a sentence of 15 years is warranted and will send a resounding message to the community that sexual abuse of a child will not be tolerated,” said Assistant United States Attorney Gary Delorme.