Former area resident gets 21 years for illicit sex overseas

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – A Kentucky resident was sentenced in federal court today to 21 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release for being a U.S. citizen who engaged and attempted to engage in illicit sexual conduct with two minor females while he traveled and resided in Cambodia.

According to federal prosecutors, 36-year-old Micky Rife, 36, formerly of Salyersville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove.

In his plea agreement, Rife admitted that between Sept. 3, 2012, and Dec. 9, 2018, he traveled in foreign commerce, and between March 7, 2013, and Dec. 9, 2018, he resided in Cambodia, and that during those periods of time, he touched two minor females under their clothing and inside or on their genital areas on more than one occasion, prosecutors said in a release

He further admitted that both minor victims were under the age of 12 when the illicit conduct occurred, according to the release.

Rife was previously indicted for two separate counts of the same offense in February 2019.  He pleaded guilty to a single-count information filed on Jan. 16, 2020.

The investigation was conducted in Cambodia and Kentucky by HSI and the Kentucky State Police.  Trial Attorney Lauren S. Kupersmith of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Marye prosecuted the case.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert M. Duncan Jr. for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Jerry Templet of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Nashville, and Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer made the announcement.

According to the Cambodia News, Rife was a former teacher at Hi-Bridge International School in Phnom Penh.

Federal law prohibits an American citizen or resident to travel to a foreign country with intent to engage in any form of sexual conduct with a minor. Rife was arrested in January 2019 after an investigation that began when his former girlfriend, with whom he adopted a child, reported concerns, according to previously released court documents.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.