Murfreesboro Police Department Detectives Wayne Lawson and Jennifer West were among the recipients of the awards for their involvement in the prosecution of David Paul Rickman.

“We congratulate Detective Wayne Lawson and Detective Jennifer West for their outstanding efforts to investigate and prosecute those who would victimize children,” Chief of Police Glenn Chrisman said.

This case was initiated July 4, 2008 when Lawson and West responded to a local motel to investigate possible child pornography in Rickman’s room.

Rickman, who had a prior conviction for the rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter, was out on bond after his arrest for aggravated sexual battery of a 4-year-old child in Rutherford County.

Lawson and West confiscated two stolen computers and 14 CDs from Rickman.

During the interview, he admitted that he had collected a large volume of materials depicting the criminal exploitation of children, which were stored on various computer media and a laptop computer that he had stolen from his employer. He also admitted to investigators that had he not been caught, he would continue victimizing children.

Special Agent Lee Eaves of the United States Secret Service was contacted concerning conducting a forensic evaluation of the seized items and make a determination if federal prosecution would be appropriate.

Eaves performed the analysis and found 500 videos and 7,000 images of child pornography.

Because of the cooperation and combined efforts of MPD, Secret Service and U.S. Attorney’s Office, Rickman pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve a period of 180 months imprisonment, to be followed by a lifetime of supervision.