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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- An Idaho man has rendered guilty pleas to criminal charges accusing him of soliciting Hollidaysburg-area juvenile girls for nude photos.
Rick Andrew Curry, 46, who was supposed to go on trial today, April 8, in Blair County court, rendered pleas Monday in front of President Judge Wade A. Kagarise, who scheduled sentencing for June 24.
Curry, who has been in the county prison since Aug. 22, 2023, when bail was set at $250,000, entered guilty pleas to felony charges of solicitation of child pornography, possession of child pornography, six counts of unlawful contact with a minor, two counts of disseminating sexual materials to a minor and a misdemeanor count of corruption of minors.
Blair Township police filed charges against Curry after an investigation into his communication in mid-2021 with an 11-year-old girl who resided in the township. On the girl's computer tablet, police reported finding sexual/nude photos that Curry sent to the girl.
The girl also advised police that he had asked her for sexual/nude photos and if she attempted to stop communicating with him, then he would threaten to contact her parents and show them the type of photos she was sending to him.
Police also learned during the investigation that Curry sent the girl electronic money in exchange for photos that she provided to him via the Snapchat computer application.
The activity between Curry and the girl came to light after Hollidaysburg police were dispatched in September 2021 to a borough residence where two girls, ages 10 and 12, said they had been contacted by an older male asking for nude photographs.
The Hollidaysburg girls said "therick0321," who contacted them, had been in touch for several months with one of their friends, identified as the 11-year-old girl who resided in Blair Township.
Blair Township, with information provided by the girls, tracked down Curry as the owner of the online accounts. Police also reported working with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office and the Coeur d'Alene Police Department in Idaho to pursue Curry's arrest.
In light of accepting Curry's guilty pleas, Kagarise directed Curry to cooperate with an evaluation by the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board. The judge also ordered completion of a pre-sentence investigation for use in deciding Curry's sentence.