Sex offender gets 40 years for assaulting minor

BISMARCK, N.D. – A Mandan man with a record of child sex crimes will spend the next 40 years in a federal prison after he traveled to Madagascar to solicit sex from minors.

U.S. District Judge Dan Traynor sentenced 60-year-old Maurice Thill.

Thill pleaded guilty in August to failing as a registered sex offender to report international travel, failing to update his sex offender registration, possessing child pornography, traveling with the intent to engage in sexual conduct with a minor and committing a felony against a minor.

Prosecutors say Thill flew to Madagascar in December 2019. Investigators found images on his cellphone showing him having sex with a minor there.