Host of celebrity-filled ‘Dose of Leadership’ podcast sentenced in KS child porn case
The host of the celebrity-filled “Dose of Leadership with Richard Rierson” podcast has been ordered to serve five years of probation plus a 60-day suspended jail sanction in a case where he was caught with child pornography.
At his sentencing hearing Wednesday, Richard Rierson of Andale apologized for what his lawyer called a “terrible mistake” that embarrassed his family and derailed his career as an airline pilot.
Rierson, 54, told Sedgwick County District Judge Jeffrey Syrios he felt “regret and shame” for his actions and is looking forward to “becoming a productive member of this community” again.
In addition to serving in the U.S. Marines and working as a pilot, Rierson created and hosted the “Dose of Leadership” podcast, touted online as the “ultimate leadership resource of inspiring and educational interviews with relevant and motivating leaders.” Guests included actor Matthew McConaughey, former NFL coach Bill Cowher, Barbara Corcoran from the TV show “Shark Tank” and Forbes editor-in-chief Steve Forbes.
He’s also previously worked as a leadership developer at several large Wichita corporations and founded a local communications company, according to The Eagle’s news archives.
Rierson has “got a good head start toward redeeming himself,” including immediately seeking treatment after he was caught, and “is willing to do whatever it takes” to rehabilitate, defense attorney John Rapp said.
Authorities arrested Rierson during a traffic stop in May after file hosting and cloud storage service Dropbox reported his account to a national tipline over files depicting sexually abusive material of girls that were uploaded from Rierson’s IP address, according to an affidavit of probable cause released by the court.
A Wichita police detective assigned to investigate the case discovered evidence of child pornography, including nearly two dozen videos, among Rierson’s deleted files, the affidavit says.
The affidavit says Rierson told police during an interview that he’d been looking at child pornography for “maybe six months to a year” and was “sexually motivated by the content” but “was not attracted to children.”
Rierson pleaded guilty to 14 counts of sexual exploitation of a child on Nov. 7.
The probation sentence, recommended in Rierson’s plea agreement, carries an underlying prison sentence of 68 months. But he won’t have to serve it or any time in jail unless he breaks the terms of his probation, which includes completing sex offender and other mental health treatment, avoiding contact with children under 16 and giving his probation officer access to all of his electronic devices.
The probation term could also end early — after three years instead of five — if Rierson follows the rules, the judge told him in court.
Syrios also suggested Rierson use software that would block his online access to pornography.
“You need to be diligent on this,” he said, pointing out that managing sexual addiction can difficult but Rierson has “done the work so far.”
“You don’t want to let off the gas.”
Contributing: Michael Stavola of The Eagle
