Notorious child rapist jailed for eight years for casino fraud
A Rhode Island man who spent 30 years in prison for kidnapping and raping children is back behind bars, this time for stealing casino rewards cards.
Notorious pedophile Richard Gardner, 56, has been sentenced to eight years in prison by a judge in Kent County, Rhode Island. He entered multiple pleas Thursday for accessing a computer for fraudulent purposes and obtaining money through false remorse.
Gardner, who terrorized children in New England in the 1980s, used $2,000 worth of "free money" on a stolen card at Bally's Twin River in Tiverton. Game” points. He also asked for freebies to which he was not entitled.
Recorded on tape
The crime was discovered when the real owner of the card attempted to claim a gift she had earned at the casino, only to find the gift had been taken away.
Security footage showed Gardner committing the crime, according to prosecutors. When state police arrested Gardner at his home, they found the membership cards of 12 other people.
"Through a thorough review of the surveillance, this man was later identified as the defendant," Assistant Attorney General Eric Battista said. "The investigation also revealed that this defendant used stolen rewards cards in December, January and early February."
1980s Kidnapping Series
In November 1987, Gardner, then 21, blindfolded and raped a 12-year-old boy who had been separated from his mother in a park in Hingham, Massachusetts, according to newspaper reports at the time.
In June 1988, while out on bail for an assault, he kidnapped a 10-year-old boy in Providence, Rhode Island, and stuffed him into a stolen car. He took him to a secluded place and raped him.
A month later, he broke into a house in Warwick, Rhode Island, through a window and threatened a 10-year-old boy at knifepoint. He drove the boy to a wooded area and sexually abused him before letting him go.
On the same day, he kidnapped a six-year-old boy, tied him to a tree and tortured him before releasing him 24 hours later.
According to reports at the time, Gardner was captured after a high-speed chase through the streets of Warwick that ended with a patrol car crashing into his stolen Camaro.
In 2018, when residents of Providence's Washington Park neighborhood discovered the recently released Gardner was living among them, crowds began demonstrating at his home, demanding he leave town. Providence police spent more than $100,000 defending his home from late 2018 to February 2019, according to WJAR.
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Source: www.casino.org
