WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A 50-year-old White River Junction man was sentenced to serve 10 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting two juveniles several years ago.
Richard Dinsmore appeared in Windsor Superior Court on Wednesday for his sentencing hearing. He pleaded guilty in December to the felony offenses of aggravated sexual assault on a victim under the age of 13, two counts of repeated aggravated sexual assault and child pornography possession.
Dinsmore, who was the husband of a home-based day care owner in White River Junction, didn’t make a statement during his sentencing hearing, but his attorney, Michael Shane, said on Thursday that Dinsmore has expressed “extreme remorse” for his actions throughout the process.
One of the victims prepared a statement, which was read into the record by a victim’s advocate at the hearing.
As part of Dinsmore’s sentence, he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, Deputy Windsor County State’s Attorney Heidi Remick said on Thursday.
Dinsmore has been in jail since the charges surfaced in November 2016. The charges did not involve children who were attending the day care. The victims were known to him.
Dinsmore’s case began to unravel in September 2016 when one of the victim’s relatives called an investigator and made the abuse allegations.
Police subsequently questioned him in November of that year at his office at Prime Subaru of Vermont in Norwich, where he acknowledged the sexual assaults, according to court documents.
Dinsmore repeatedly engaged in sexual acts with the two juveniles in Hartford, one between 1993 and 1999 and the other between 2010 and 2011, court documents state.
Dinsmore also stored child pornography on his computer, according to information read aloud in court in December.
Following the accusations, the Department for Children and Families investigated in part to determine if any children at Linda Dinsmore’s day care had been victimized.
No allegations surfaced, Remick said previously and re-confirmed on Thursday.
Linda Dinsmore no longer operates a home-based child care center in Hartford, according to the state’s website.
Richard Dinsmore had originally faced six felonies; the other two charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Dinsmore has two years and nine months of pretrial credit, which will go toward his minimum sentence.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.