Judge Richard McGowan Gave Bradley Perry Probation In A Teen Sex-Assault Case. BadPD Wants The Full Ledger

BadPD source-check, July 6, 2026: the judge-accountability lead appears to be Nebraska Fourth Judicial District Judge Richard P. McGowan and the Bradley Perry sentencing. It is not the earlier California McLaughlin/Cacconie release case. The key public allegation is not vague: WOWT reported that two Omaha men were convicted on the same charges involving the same 15-year-old victim after the same plea deal, but received radically different sentences because different judges handled sentencing.

According to WOWT, Eric Bergstrom was sentenced by Judge Derek Vaughn to 30 to 50 years in prison for first-degree sexual assault and 20 to 35 years for a visual-depiction or child-pornography count. After Vaughn was promoted to the Nebraska Supreme Court, Bradley Perry came before Judge Richard McGowan. WOWT reported that McGowan sentenced Perry to probation for first-degree sexual assault and a minimum of three years on the child-pornography count.

That is the article. Not gossip. Not a protected-class attack. Not a fake conspiracy. A local prosecutor called the sentence outrageously low. A local television investigation tied the two cases to the same victim, same plea, and same charges. A follow-up report said the county attorney appealed the sentence. The public record now demands a full ledger: the transcript, the plea documents, the statutory basis, the appeal, McGowan’s appointment record, his prior public-service record, and every public mechanism available to hold a judge accountable when discretion looks like a lottery.

The Sentencing Gap

WOWT’s March 2026 investigation reported that investigators said two men went separately, on multiple occasions, to a west Omaha home, entered through a basement window, sexually abused a 15-year-old boy, and manufactured child sexual abuse material. The court found both men guilty after plea deals, according to the report. The reported difference was not the victim. It was not the plea. It was the judge.

For Bergstrom, Judge Derek Vaughn imposed a sentence measured in decades. WOWT reported 30 to 50 years for first-degree sexual assault and 20 to 35 years for visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, with the report saying Bergstrom would spend 25 years in custody under Nebraska’s good-time law. For Perry, the local station reported probation for the first-degree sexual assault count and a three-year minimum for the child-pornography count.

BadPD is not publishing the victim’s name and is not treating the underlying crime as entertainment. The public point is the state-action point: when two defendants are reported to have the same victim, same plea, and same charges, the sentencing delta becomes a court-accountability issue. If there is a lawful, record-based explanation for the difference, the public needs the transcript and the sentencing findings. If there is not, then the sentence is exactly the kind of discretionary failure that makes victims doubt the system before they ever enter a courtroom.

McGowan’s Reported Bench Statement

WOWT reported that prosecutors urged McGowan to consider a more severe sentence in line with the co-defendant’s sentence. The same report attributed to court transcripts a statement from McGowan that included the phrase “I am the law.” BadPD is quoting only the short phrase here because the transcript itself should be public-facing evidence, not a paraphrase war. The full transcript should be pulled, scanned, and placed beside the sentence order.

That phrase matters because public confidence depends on judicial humility. Judges apply law. They do not become law. A judge can disagree with a prior judge. A judge can reject a prosecutor’s sentencing recommendation. A judge can impose a sentence inside a lawful range. But when a sentence is this far from a co-defendant’s sentence in a same-victim case, the court owes the public more than robe authority. It owes reasons.

County Attorney Don Kleine told WOWT the disparity was difficult to ignore and described the sentence as far lower than it should be. The follow-up WOWT report said Kleine called the sentence excessively lenient and appealed it. That appeal is now one of the most important records in the file. The appellate court does not need BadPD to rage. It needs the law, transcript, and record. BadPD wants all three public.

What Nebraska Law Says And What Needs The Transcript

Nebraska’s official first-degree sexual assault statute, section 28-319, says a person commits first-degree sexual assault when, among other conditions, the actor is 19 or older and the victim is at least 12 but under 16. The statute classifies first-degree sexual assault as a Class II felony and says the sentencing judge shall consider whether the actor caused serious personal injury in reaching the sentence.

Nebraska’s official felony-penalty table, section 28-105, lists a Class II felony with a maximum of 50 years imprisonment and a minimum of one year imprisonment. That is why the exact charge, plea agreement, sentence order, and transcript matter. If the public reporting is using shorthand, the official records will clarify it. If the sentence really put probation on a Class II first-degree sexual assault conviction where a minimum prison term applied, that is not just lenient. That is a statutory-authority question that should be tested on appeal.

The child-sexual-abuse-material count also needs exact statutory mapping. Nebraska section 28-1805 covers prohibited acts involving child sexual abuse material and includes a Class ID penalty for certain offenders age 19 or older. A Class ID felony carries a mandatory minimum under the general penalty table. WOWT reported Perry received a three-year minimum for the child-pornography count. That may line up with a Class ID minimum, but BadPD is not going to guess the exact subsection when the docket can settle it.

The point is simple: if the sentence is lawful, publish the legal basis and the reasoning. If the sentence is unlawful or outside statutory authority, the appeal should correct it. If it is technically lawful but morally and systemically indefensible, voters and court leadership still need to know that a 2025-appointed judge used discretion this way within weeks of taking the bench.

Who Is Judge Richard P. McGowan?

The Nebraska Judicial Branch lists Richard P. McGowan as a judge of the District Court, Fourth Judicial District, Douglas County, with a 2025-present judgeship. The official biography lists McGowan Law Firm, PC, LLO from 2007 to 2025, his Creighton University School of Law degree in 2002, and Rockhurst University degree in philosophy and sociology in 1998. It also lists law-related activities including Douglas County Board of Mental Health chairperson, former Omaha Bar Association Lawyer’s Referral Services chair, former Omaha Bar Association treasurer, and former executive council member.

Governor Jim Pillen’s October 20, 2025 release says he appointed Richard P. McGowan of Omaha as district court judge in the Fourth Judicial District, which consists of Douglas County. The release says McGowan had his own law practice in Nebraska for 18 years with work in criminal defense, juvenile law, personal injury, guardianship, and related areas. It also says the vacancy existed because Judge Leigh Ann Retelsdorf retired.

The Omaha Daily Record’s January 30, 2026 profile reported that McGowan was sworn in January 23 by Judge Horacio Wheelock and that more than 100 people attended. It reported that he had operated McGowan Law Firm for 18 years and repeated the criminal defense, juvenile law, personal injury, and guardianship background. It also included a detail that attorneys may want to plan for a late morning docket because the newest Douglas County judge was not known as a morning person.

BadPD is not making lateness the scandal. The scandal is the sentencing record. But the profile matters because it shows just how new McGowan was on the bench when the Perry sentence became a public-confidence issue. If a new judge’s first high-profile public-safety sentencing controversy is a same-victim child-sex-case disparity that the county attorney appeals, the judge’s full public record becomes fair game for a source-backed review.

The Mental Health Board Lead Needs Records, Not Assumptions

McGowan’s official biography and the governor’s appointment release list Douglas County Board of Mental Health chairperson service. Separately, 3NewsNow reported that Douglas County Clerk of District Court Crystal Rhoades raised concerns about how mental-health cases were being handled in the county. The station reported Rhoades claimed hundreds of individuals were denied timely hearings and said only 11 of 473 people detained by warrants from January to July 2025 had hearings within the seven-day timeframe she identified. The same report said mental-health-board leadership and County Attorney Don Kleine disputed or limited the allegations, citing confidentiality, voluntary treatment, providers, defense lawyers, prosecutors, doctors, and judges.

This is a records-demand lead, not proof of McGowan misconduct. The 3NewsNow article names Michael McClellan as board chair disputing the claims. McGowan’s biography and appointment materials list his board chair role, but BadPD has not yet source-cleared the exact chair timeline, minutes, hearing policies, or whether McGowan had any responsibility for the January to July 2025 period described by Rhoades. That is why the next documents matter: board membership rosters, chair dates, meeting minutes, hearing scheduling rules, correspondence, and any court orders tied to the clerk’s concerns.

BadPD’s rule is simple: if McGowan’s public-service record helped put him on the bench, then that public-service record belongs in the career ledger. If the board record clears him, publish that too. If the board record shows rights problems under his leadership or policy influence, publish that with documents. Do not guess. Pull the minutes.

Public Discipline, Complaints, And What The Commission Can Do

The Nebraska Judicial Branch’s complaint page says any Nebraska citizen may bring a complaint to the Nebraska Commission on Judicial Qualifications about the conduct or qualifications of a Nebraska state judge. It says the commission reviews complaints, may conduct confidential inquiry or investigation, and may proceed toward public reprimand or recommend discipline to the Nebraska Supreme Court when probable cause exists.

The same official page lists possible discipline grounds including willful misconduct in office, willful disregard of duties, habitual intemperance, conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, disbarment, or conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings judicial office into disrepute. It also states an important limit: the commission cannot take the place of an appeals process or change a judge’s decision or lawsuit outcome.

That limit matters. A bad sentence alone may be an appeal issue, not a discipline issue. But the public is not limited to one lane. The appeal lane asks whether the sentence was lawful or an abuse of discretion. The discipline lane asks whether conduct crosses judicial-qualification lines. The retention and appointment-accountability lane asks whether the public and appointing authorities should trust the judge with future high-stakes criminal sentencing. Those are different questions, and BadPD wants all of them asked.

BadPD also checked the public Nebraska Judicial Discipline archive page text for McGowan and found no match. That does not mean no confidential complaint exists. The complaint page says many commission proceedings remain confidential before a formal open hearing. It only means BadPD did not find a public archive entry naming McGowan on the page as accessed July 6, 2026.

The Retention And Replacement Question

The user lead said the judge was about to retire. BadPD has not source-cleared that claim for McGowan. In fact, the official 2026 Nebraska retention-election page, accessed July 6, lists judges eligible to file for retention in the November 2026 election and BadPD did not find McGowan listed there. That fits a newly appointed judge better than a retiring judge, but the official judicial election calendar and secretary of state filings should be checked again after the filing deadline and before any future claim about retirement or ballot timing.

The replacement argument therefore has to be precise. BadPD is not writing that McGowan is retiring unless a source proves it. BadPD is saying that McGowan’s Perry sentence should become part of the record used by appellate judges, judicial administrators, the governor’s office, retention voters when applicable, and anyone reviewing whether he should continue handling child-sex, sexual-violence, or public-safety sentencing cases.

If the appeal finds the sentence unlawful, the failure is obvious. If the appeal finds it lawful but extremely lenient, the policy failure becomes obvious: Nebraska law would then allow a judge to impose probation in a same-victim teenage sexual-assault case while a co-defendant received decades. Either result requires action. The public should not have to accept a shrug because the legal system gave itself enough discretion to produce a result the prosecutor publicly attacked.

Confirmed, Attributed, Pending, Disputed

Confirmed by official records: Richard P. McGowan is a Douglas County District Court judge in Nebraska’s Fourth Judicial District. The Nebraska Judicial Branch lists his judgeship as 2025-present. Governor Pillen appointed him on October 20, 2025. His official biography and appointment release list prior private practice and Douglas County Board of Mental Health chairperson service.

Reported by accountable local journalism: WOWT reported that Bergstrom and Perry were convicted on the same charges involving the same 15-year-old victim after the same plea deal, and that different judges imposed vastly different sentences. WOWT reported McGowan sentenced Perry to probation on first-degree sexual assault and a three-year minimum on the child-pornography count. WOWT reported County Attorney Don Kleine criticized the sentence and that the sentence was appealed.

Official law checked: Nebraska section 28-319 classifies first-degree sexual assault as a Class II felony. Nebraska section 28-105 lists Class II felony penalties as one to fifty years imprisonment. Nebraska section 28-1805 covers child sexual abuse material prohibited acts and includes penalties that may explain the reported three-year minimum, depending on the exact count and subsection.

Pending records: the Perry plea agreement, information or indictment, exact statute numbers, sentencing order, sentencing transcript, prosecutor’s objection, presentence investigation summary where public or redacted, notice of appeal, appellate docket number, appellate briefs, any motion to modify sentence, victim-impact record where disclosure is lawful and survivor-protective, and any written McGowan sentencing findings.

Disputed or incomplete: the retirement claim is not source-cleared. The mental-health-board allegations are not source-cleared against McGowan personally; they are a separate governance lead requiring chair timeline and board records. BadPD found no public discipline archive match for McGowan on the page checked, but confidential complaints would not necessarily appear there.

What BadPD Wants Pulled Next

First, pull the Perry criminal docket from Douglas County and the Nebraska appellate docket. Get the exact case numbers, charge statutes, plea terms, sentencing order, notice of appeal, and hearing dates. If the appellate case is not public yet, mark it pending and keep checking.

Second, request or purchase the sentencing transcript. The public debate is already distorted by one phrase. The transcript needs to show the full exchange: what the state asked for, what the defense argued, whether the victim or family spoke, what risk factors were discussed, what statutory range was identified, whether the judge addressed the co-defendant sentence, and whether the judge explained probation on the sex-assault count.

Third, pull Bergstrom’s sentencing record and put it side by side with Perry’s. Same victim and same plea should mean the factual differences, if any, are clear. If there were different criminal histories, cooperation agreements, count structures, evidentiary issues, or presentence findings, publish them. If not, the disparity becomes more damning.

Fourth, pull the Travis Tierney file. WOWT reported the third suspect was transferred to Douglas County and would go before the same judge whose prior co-defendant sentence was appealed. That creates an immediate watchdog issue: what happens when the same court handles the next linked case after public criticism and appeal?

Fifth, pull McGowan’s judicial nomination application, public hearing materials, bar history, discipline archive checks, public campaign or retention filings when applicable, board memberships, and Douglas County Board of Mental Health chair timeline. This is the career ledger. It has to be records-first, not vibes-first.

BadPD’s Editorial Position

BadPD’s position is direct: if WOWT’s same-victim, same-plea reporting is accurate, McGowan’s Perry sentence is unacceptable as a public-safety judgment. If the sentence is legally invalid, the appellate court should correct it. If the sentence is legally valid, Nebraska lawmakers and judicial administrators need to explain why the law allows a probation outcome in that fact pattern. Either way, the public should not let this vanish into one local broadcast and a quiet appeal.

McGowan should not get the benefit of institutional silence while the public waits for an appellate docket no one is watching. His newness on the bench is not a defense. If anything, it makes the scrutiny more urgent. A judge appointed in late 2025 and sworn in January 2026 should not become known by spring 2026 for a child-sex-case sentence that the prosecutor calls outrageously lenient.

BadPD is not calling for harassment. BadPD is calling for records, appellate review, retention accountability, and assignment scrutiny. If a judge can sentence a same-victim co-defendant to probation on a first-degree sexual assault count after another judge imposed decades, the public has a right to demand the reasoning and to decide whether that judge should keep handling similar cases.

Bottom Line

The court system often asks victims to trust it with the worst facts of their lives. That trust is not free. It is earned through consistency, transparency, and decisions that make sense when placed next to the record. The Perry sentence, as reported, does not make sense next to the Bergstrom sentence. It looks arbitrary. It looks like the courtroom lottery critics warn about. It looks like a sentence that should be appealed, explained, and placed permanently in the public ledger.

BadPD will update this file when the appeal, transcript, docket, or board records are obtained. Until then, the public takeaway is clear: Judge Richard P. McGowan’s Bradley Perry sentence is a source-backed judicial accountability story, and the full career ledger starts here.

Source Trail

• WOWT First Alert 6: same victim, same plea, different judges (Published March 16, 2026; accessed July 6, 2026) – Local investigation reporting Bergstrom and Perry sentence disparity, Don Kleine criticism, McGowan transcript quote, and pending appellate scrutiny.
• WOWT First Alert 6: third suspect transferred to Douglas County (Published April 16, 2026; accessed July 6, 2026) – Follow-up reporting Travis Tierney transfer, Perry sentencing appeal, and the same-victim/same-charge sentencing context.
• Nebraska Judicial Branch: Hon. Richard P. McGowan biography (Accessed July 6, 2026) – Official judicial biography listing Douglas District Court role, 2025-present judgeship, 2007-2025 McGowan Law Firm, education, and law-related activities.
• Governor Pillen appointment release (October 20, 2025) – Official appointment record naming McGowan to the Fourth Judicial District, consisting of Douglas County, after Judge Leigh Ann Retelsdorf retirement.
• Omaha Daily Record: Judge McGowan joins Fourth Judicial District (January 30, 2026) – Local legal-profile source on swearing-in, private-practice background, late-morning docket detail, and Douglas County Mental Health Board service.
• Nebraska Legislature: first-degree sexual assault statute (Accessed July 6, 2026) – Official statute defining first-degree sexual assault and classifying it as a Class II felony.
• Nebraska Legislature: felony penalty classifications (Accessed July 6, 2026) – Official penalty table listing Class II felony range as one to fifty years and mandatory-minimum probation limits where applicable.
• Nebraska Legislature: child sexual abuse material prohibited acts (Accessed July 6, 2026) – Official statute on generating, distributing, or causing child sexual abuse material, with penalties including Class ID for offenders age nineteen or older.
• Nebraska Judicial Branch: how to file a judicial complaint (Accessed July 6, 2026) – Official complaint process, commission powers, discipline grounds, limits, confidentiality, and filing information.
• Nebraska Judicial Branch: judicial discipline archive (Accessed July 6, 2026) – Official archive checked for public McGowan match; BadPD found no McGowan match in the public page text.
• Nebraska Judicial Branch: 2026 judicial retention election page (Accessed July 6, 2026) – Official retention page checked for 2026 list; BadPD did not find McGowan listed on the page as accessed.
• 3NewsNow: Douglas County mental-health case-handling dispute (Accessed July 6, 2026) – Separate governance lead on alleged mental-health-board case-handling problems; used carefully as a records-demand lead, not as proof of McGowan misconduct.