Leavenworth man indicted on federal charges for child sexual exploitation: Prosecutors

A Leavenworth man is facing criminal charges related to the sexual exploitation of a child, federal prosecutors said on Thursday.

Antoine Askari Richardson, 25, is accused of four felony charges under an indictment that was unsealed Thursday in Kansas City, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.

Prosecutors say Richardson worked for the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth at the time of the alleged offenses. He is accused of committing the crimes between October 2022 and March of this year.

Richardson was arrested on the charge and made his initial court appearance at the federal courthouse in Kansas City on Thursday afternoon.

Under the indictment, Richardson is accused of using a child victim to produce child pornography, receiving child sexual abuse images and distribution of child sexual abuse images.

A spokesman for the University of St. Mary said in an email to The Star that Richardson worked as a graduate assistant in its campus ministry beginning in the summer of 2022 and later as an outreach coordinator from April until May. He added that the allegations do not involve the university community or campus.

Richardson was ordered held in federal custody pending the outcome of a detention hearing Dec. 28.