Posted on 01/20/2003 4:37:19 PM PST by jimbo123
TV station claims film shows ex-U.N. inspector caught in sex sting
An attorney for Scott Ritter confirmed that the outspoken former U.N. weapons inspector, who says President Bush should be impeached for his Iraq policy, was arrested a year and a half ago.
Norah Murphy said Ritter was arrested in the upstate New York town of Colonie in June 2001, but she would not respond to allegations that he was charged with soliciting an underage girl on the Internet. Ritter lives in the Albany, N.Y., suburb of Delmar.
The Schenectady Daily Gazette and New York Daily News report Ritter allegedly had an online sexual discussion with someone he thought was an underage girl. The "girl," however, turned out to be an undercover police investigator, according to the Daily News, whose sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
Today, Colonie police Deputy Chief Steven Heider told WorldNetDaily that he cannot confirm the allegations, explaining that if they were true, the details would have been sealed by a court order.
"A sealing order is exactly what it says it is," he said. "We're not allowed to talk about anything under sealed court order, and I'm not saying that one exists."
However, WND has learned that NBC affiliate WNYT in Albany has news footage of Ritter being arrested. At the time the film was shot, the station was unaware the arrest was connected to Ritter, WNYT Executive Producer Beth Cohen told WND.
The station has a mug shot of Ritter along with the footage, said News Director Paul Conti.
"If it's not him, it's either his clone or a twin," said Conti.
The news director said the 16-year-old girl had been lured by Ritter to meet him at the Burger King restaurant in Menands, N.Y., in order "to have her watch him have sex with himself."
"Anyone who went to the Burger King that day could confirm the details of that event and report that a sting operation was underway that involved a decoy officer posing as a 16-year old girl," Conti said.
Conti told WorldNetDaily that WNYT plans to continue airing their information. Footage of the arrest will be included in this evening's newscast, because it was acquired prior to the sealing order, he said.
As WorldNetDaily reported Saturday, Ritter is calling for the ouster of President Bush for what he feels are unnecessary and murderous actions in the conflict with Iraq.
"I would be in favor of the impeachment of President Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors," the 41-year old former Marine told WND. "Murder is a high crime and misdemeanor, and I can't think of any better definition than murder when he talks about American service members and putting them in a war which is not only illegal but is based on a foundation of lies."
"When you go to war you open up a Pandora's box, the results of which cannot be predicted," he said via telephone as he drove from his upstate New York home to appear on Fox News. "Therefore, there better be a darned good reason to go to war. It's got to be worth the sacrifice that you're asking others to make."
He must be, he couldn't find a WMD in Iraq if Saddam hit him over the head with it.
We have in our possession a tape of the mug shot taken of him at the time of his arrest and we have aired that. It's also on our web site. There is no tape of him being arrested at the Burger King. He was arrested while getting off the exit to the highway in Menands. We were not present for that arrest. We were informed of it when were at court.
Where did this misinformation start. I've gotten a couple of notes like this and wonder who is spreading this rumor. If we had tape of him being cuffed and stuffed in a car we'd air it.
Paul Conti
News Director, WNYT .
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then check out what WND wrote:
The station has a mug shot of Ritter along with the footage, said News Director Paul Conti. "If it's not him, it's either his clone or a twin," said Conti. The news director said the 16-year-old girl had been lured by Ritter to meet him at the Burger King in Menands, N.Y., in order "to have her watch him have sex with himself." "Anyone who went to the Burger King that day could confirm the details of that event and report that a sting operation was underway that involved a decoy officer posing as a 16-year-old girl," Conti said. Conti told WorldNetDaily that WNYT plans to continue airing its information. Video footage of the arrest is being shown in the station's newscasts, because it was acquired prior to the sealing order, he said.
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something is strange here.
I saw this info on another thread and wanted the record to be clear here, and see someone has already posted the TV station's clarification.
So it goes back to being more possible the DA was kept in the dark if all the hoopla we were led to believe didn't go down after all.
(Everything was so hush-hush. Lucky Scott!)
Subject: Please remove an inaccurate post Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 14:17:55 -0500 From: Paul Conti To: "'webmaster@freerepublic.com'" The post you have regarding our TV station is wrong. The tape we have is of the mug shot of William Scott Ritter on the day of his arrest on June 22nd, 2002. We are airing this tape and continue to air it. It is also on our web site. We have no tape of him being handcuffed. If we did have it we would air it without question. I would appreciate a correction to the post regarding this or perhaps you can just post this note. Paul Conti News Director, WNYT .
I am still waiting to hear from this ADA who got the boot. I think she is involved in covering up for Ritter, but she's not the big cheese here. If I was her, I think I would start squealing like a pig before I got Arkancided.
That is just hilarious!
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