Police released this mugshot following
the arrest of William Ritter in June 2001.
Lindsay Cohen reports.
Posted on 01/20/2003 11:41:33 AM PST by Shermy
ALBANY, NY, Jan. 20 - Scott Ritter of Delmar is well known internationally as an outspoken, former U.N. weapons inspector. Now more information is coming to light about Ritter's past and a disturbing arrest.
COLONIE POLICE CANNOT comment on whether or not they actually arrested Ritter on charges he solicited an underage girl over the Internet. They say this is because if an arrest was made, it was sealed due to court proceedings.
<....Snip...>
However, NewsChannel 13 reported in June 2001 about an arrest of a 39-year-old William Ritter of Delmar on charges he tried to lure a 16-year-old girl he met on the Internet to a Burger King in Menands. According to police, the intent of that meeting was so that she could watch him perform sexual acts on himself.
At that time police said William Ritter was arrested before doing anything, but was facing multiple misdemeanor charges for trying to solicit an underage girl for sexual reasons.<...snip...>
The REAL SCARY thing about your quote is that it has a 50/50 chance of being true.
This occurred to me, too. It really makes sense.
Delmar resident Scott Ritter makes no apology for opposing war on IraqBy ALAN WECHSLER, Staff writer First published: Monday, September 23, 2002
In the past day, the former U.N. chief weapons inspector did three radio interviews, the CNN show ``TalkBack Live,'' a news conference and a speech at Georgia State University. A day earlier, he talked to ``Crossfire,'' the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune and spent an hour on C-Span.
Delmar native and former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter addresses a news conference at Georgia State University Sept. 17.
Now, the Delmar resident is talking long-distance from the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta to the Times Union. The former Marine, who once stared down the barrel of an Iraqi machine gun as he tried to enter an off-limits military complex, is explaining why he has become a dove.
While America's leaders continue to push for war with Iraq, Ritter has become one of the loudest voices opposing it.
``Others may wage war right now,'' he says. ``I'm waging peace.''
Ritter, 41, a native of Gainesville, Fla., moved to the Capital Region two years ago with his wife, Marina, and twin daughters. He was looking for a quiet place within a three-hour drive of New York City. Here, he's a member of the fire department and an avid golfer.
But nationally, he's famous -- or infamous, depending on your point of view -- for becoming the first American to speak to the Iraq National Assembly. He told the Middle East nation it needed to allow arms inspectors back in the country.
Politicians and arms experts say they can't understand why Ritter, who spent seven years looking for signs of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in Iraq, is opposed to war. But while some have called Ritter a traitor, he is unapologetic.
``I went in there because it was a dramatic intervention designed to thrust a dissenting point of view,'' he says.
Locally, Ritter keeps a low profile. He's been a member of the Delmar Fire Department for a year -- he was one of 17 to join soon after Sept. 11 -- and members say he almost never talks about politics.
``He's proven himself. He's really gung-ho,'' says William Wright, the chairman of the Delmar Board of Fire Commissioners. ...
The house Ritter lives in with his family is appears generic, except that the entire downstairs is painted bright yellow. That's because his wife, whom he met in the former Soviet Union while in the Marines, says it reminds her of home in the Republic of Georgia. With Ritter traveling, her father, who doesn't speak English, is keeping her company. She declined to talk about her husband's work.
... A decade ago, Ritter hardly seemed destined to be the leading voice opposing a war. After growing up in a military family, he joined the Marines as a young man and eventually became a weapons inspector with the Corps in the former Soviet Union. ...
U.S. Rep. John McHugh, R-Watertown, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, says he, too, couldn't understand Ritter's stance.
``It's at odds with virtually every other assessment any outside expert has rendered,'' he said.
Other critics point out that Ritter received $400,000 from an Iraqi businessman living in Detroit, which Ritter used to make a full-length documentary, ``In Shifting Sands,'' which depicts damage caused by U.S. sanctions.
Ritter says the money was a loan and that the lender, Shakair Al-Khafaji, had no editorial control.
You know, at this point, it doesn't make any difference about the source of the leak--a cop who couldn't stand seeing Ritter on TV trashing the President, an outside LEO, an intelligence agency--Ritter is toast. He can't stick his head up on national TV without being asked about this. And that's really a good thing.
In a way, I feel badly for him. Of course, I don't like his stand on Iraq and interference with foreign policy. Unless there is info I don't know, I don't think he has access to classified information.
Unless these solicitation reports are true, news organizations are going to face a momumental lawsuit and Ritter will be a multi-millionaire.
If a foreign government had info about his "activities," he would be open to blackmail. He certainly would not want his family to know about it. We don't know that such is the case and I won't accuse him of that. Let's see how it plays out. If he had some doubts about our policy, a blackmail threat could have been an incentive to harden his position and see only things that fit with a conclusion he needed to reach. He really could sincerely believe what he is saying.
In all of this, it is a shame what this might do to his family. There are real questions about government stings. As a society, we have a duty to protect children. They cannot make the same kinds of informed decisions as adults. Did Ritter hurt anyone? Well, if this was his first time and he was really talking to a police officer, he didn't hurt any individual. Would he have done harm if not caught in this sting? Perhaps.
There really is a fine line between between what the government should and should not be allowed to do. We value freedom above all.
If the TV and print reports are true, the guy may now need psychological help for two reasons. I hope he gets it and that his family survives the ordeal.
Well, I question if the word "cover up" applies, in any serious sense. Presumably, Ritter was a first-time offender. It seems that the alleged offense (proposing a consensual exhibitionist encounter to a soi disante 16-year old Lolita on the Internet) falls well short of pedophilia or statutory rape. The evidence that anything prosecutable actually occured may well have been borderline. That Ritter's lawyer could have got the whole thing quashed doesn't strike me as that extraordinary, on the face of it. That's what lawyers are for.
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