Man To Spend Nearly Six Decades In Prison For Multiple Child Sex Offenses

A 39-year-old man in Forsyth County, North Carolina, will spend nearly six decades behind bars after pleading guilty to several child sex offense charges.

Fernando Romero-Vidal entered a guilty plea Friday to charges that include six counts of indecent liberties with a child, six counts of statutory rape of a child and three counts of first-degree sex offense with a child, Fox 8 reported.

Romero-Vidal was accused of sexually abusing a minor "beginning when the minor was 12 years old and continuing until age 16," according to the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office.

The sentencing was carried out by the Honorable David Hall, of Forsyth County. The judge handed Romero-Vidal an active term of imprisonment of 40 to 58 years.

Aside from jail time, Romero-Vidal will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

This comes days after a 41-year-old registered sex offender in North Carolina was arrested for using an online identifier that was not registered with Randolph County Sheriff's Office on Dec. 21.

The sex offender, identified as Richard Wilson Adkins, Jr., also had not filed a change of address, which is required by law, WFMY News 2 reported.

After being taken into custody, Adkins was issued an over $40,000 bond, as well as $1,000 for an outstanding child support civil order.

After an investigation of his seized electronics, the Randolph County Sheriff's Office's internet crimes against children team sought an additional warrant for 10 counts of felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Adkins was then issued an additional $75,000 bond. The investigation is ongoing.

Adkins was originally arrested in 2019 and charged with 30 counts of felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, according to an official release by the Randolph County Sheriff's Office.

In other news, a 41-year-old orthodontist in west Michigan is facing charges of child porn.

Thomas Patrick Shannon, of Byron Township, was arrested after the Kent County Sheriff's Detective Bureau received in September 2021 information from the Fuquay Varina Police Department in North Carolina about a person, later identified as Shannon, offering to pay a 17-year-old girl for nude photos and videos, Mix 95.7 West Michigan reported.

The girl allegedly agreed and sent him the images for $150. Court documents alleged that Shannon asked for more photos and videos, specifically from when she was in eighth and ninth grade.

Shannon is facing two counts of child sexually abusive material (aggravated possession), two counts of sexually abusive material (possession), two counts of using a computer to commit a crime (a 10- to 20-year felony) and two counts of using a computer to commit a crime (a four- to 10-year felony).