BENTON – A Jefferson County, Missouri, man was sentenced to a total of 600 months in prison on Friday, February 25, 2022, after a federal jury found him guilty in October of 2021 for arranging to have sex with a minor, traveling to pick her up in Belleville, Illinois, and producing sexually explicit images of her. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Earl G. Rice, Jr., 63, chatted online via a dating application with a teenage girl. Rice quickly indicated his interest in traveling to Belleville, Illinois, from Dittmer, Missouri, to meet the victim and engage in sexual acts with her. On Valentine’s Day of 2018, Rice arrived with alcohol, condoms, and a candle to take the victim to a nearby motel. Rice engaged in sexual acts with the victim and produced sexually explicit images of the teen girl on his cell phone. Belleville Police Department apprehended Rice at the scene of the crime. “Serious crimes deserve serious punishment, and w
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