Richard Lyle Thompson, 45, Minot, who had been charged with 10 counts of Class C felony possession of child pornography, entered Alford pleas on Thursday to amended charges of two counts of Class C felony dissemination of obscenity. Eight charges were dismissed under the terms of a binding plea deal with the state.

Under the plea deal, Thompson will not be required to register as a sex offender and will be on supervised probation for six years. Judge Richard Hagar also sentenced Thompson to five years in prison, all suspended but the five days he already served in jail, and three years of supervised probation on each charge, to be served consecutively. Under the terms of the plea deal, Thompson will not be permitted to use the internet without written permission from his probation officer, and will not be permitted contact with children other than his own without written permission from the probation officer. If the probation officer does give permission, any contact Thompson has with minors will have to be under the direct supervision of a person chosen by the probation officer. Thompson will also be required to undergo an offender education program.

Thompson had gone to trial on the original charges in November 2019 but the trial ended in a mistrial.

Ward County Assistant State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen said the plea deal was offered after another prosecutor took over the case. She said Thompson has no prior criminal record, so it seemed appropriate to offer the deal, but the deal calls for six years of supervised probation instead of three. She called the deal a “compromise.”

Thompson entered Alford pleas, meaning he maintains his innocence but recognizes there might be enough evidence for him to be found guilty if the case went to trial again.

Thompson said he is glad the case is over and told the judge it has been emotionally draining.

Thompson was arrested in April 2017 after the Ward County Sheriff’s Department received a tip from the North Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which had received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.