Bremerton resident Timothy Ray Richardson, 40, was sentenced Monday in Kitsap County Superior Court to 12 years in prison for child molestation.

Richardson, a co-owner of the Wang’z N Thang’z restaurant in Bremerton, was arrested by Bremerton police in March and denied allegations that he had sexually assaulted the 13-year-old victim in the case.

Richardson pled guilty, though, on June 16 to two counts of child molestation in the second degree. He was sentenced to 72 months on each count and the sentences will run consecutively, meaning he will serve 144 months in prison. As part of the sentence, Richardson will also have to serve 36 months of community custody upon his release from prison. Community custody involves regular meetings with Department of Corrections officers and a variety of other conditions that must be met in order not to go back to jail or prison.

The victim in the case told police that the molestation started in California when she was 11. She said Richardson would “come into her room at night and touch her vagina and breasts.” It continued to happen even after the family moved to Bremerton from California.

Based on information in the charging documents, during incidents of molestation, Richardson would tell the girl “you’re mine” when she told him his touching made her uncomfortable. The child also told detectives she was taken to his restaurant where he “laid a coat on the floor” and “would turn off the camera because his wife has the ability to watch the cameras on the internet” before performing oral sex on her. Richardson also told the victim he would take her virginity.