Arrest wasn't first time police had eye on (sexual predator) Ritter

Albany Times Union Newspaper

[1Old Pro]

http://www.timesunion.com/aspstories/storyprint.asp?storyID=95483

Arrest wasn't first time police had eye on Ritter

Former U.N. arms inspector reportedly was under inquiry when cops charged him in 2001

By MIKE GOODWIN, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Colonie -- The Internet sex case that led to the arrest of a former U.N. weapons inspector was not his first involvement with police on that type of crime, a person familiar with the case said Monday.

Scott Ritter was under investigation for trying to set up a meeting with a girl through the Internet when town police charged him in June 2001 with using an online chat room to set up a similar rendezvous at a Menands restaurant, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Police began investigating the 41-year-old Ritter, who lives in Delmar, in April 2001 after he tried to meet someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl, the source said. Ritter drove to a Colonie business, where he instead was met by police officers, the source said.

Ritter, an outspoken critic of President Bush's plans for war against Iraq, was released without being charged while police investigated.

Two months later, the source said, Ritter was caught in the same type of Internet sex-sting operation after he tried to lure a 16-year-old girl to a Burger King in Menands. The supposed teenager actually was an undercover investigator posing online as a minor as part of the town Police Department's investigation of Internet sex crime, the source said.

Police charged Ritter with attempted endangerment of a child, a Class B misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in the county jail.

Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Preiser to have the case adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, which means that charges would be dropped if Ritter stayed out of trouble for a period of time. A Colonie town justice sealed the case after the agreement between the prosecutor and defendant was reached.

Ritter was out of the country on Monday, according to his attorney, Norah Murphy, and his wife.

Ritter declined to be interviewed when asked Monday by e-mail whether he wanted to give his side of the story.

"Thanks for your e-mail," he wrote. "I have no comment on the issue you mentioned."

District Attorney Paul Clyne fired Preiser because she did not inform him about a "sensitive" case in Town Court, but Clyne would not acknowledge that the case involved Ritter.

Clyne's office was heavily criticized three months before Ritter's arrest after another assistant district attorney agreed to drop crack cocaine charges against a renowned Loudonville surgeon, Dr. Darroch Moores. In that case, the assistant district attorney also failed to inform the district attorney.

Moores took a leave of absence from St. Peter's Hospital and was allowed to keep his medical license and continue practicing as part of a probation agreement with the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct.

Defense attorney Michael Koenig said adjournment in contemplation of dismissal was not an unusual outcome for someone charged with a Class B misdemeanor, as Ritter was.

Ritter, a former Marine, led a weapons inspection team in Iraq in the 1990s after the Gulf War. He has gained international attention in recent months as a critic of a new U.S. war with Iraq. He has been interviewed frequently on radio and television shows, consistently downplaying the threat posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Ritter's days as a leading voice of the opposition to war could be over if his arrest receives national media attention, said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University. He said the nature of Ritter's arrest would overwhelm any point he might try to make on a talk show.

"When you're a talking head, your whole reason for being has got to be the image of anything you represent," Thompson said. "If the story starts getting to be a big issue, there will be talking heads making their careers on the end of this talking head."

[duckln]

will you grant him just as much credibility as before this story came out?

Probably not, unfortunately, but the guy was involved in Iraq from the beginning and I'm interested. Especially when the Clinton hacks took him down using the same tactic they used to lable Milosevic as the 'butcher of the Balkans'.

At the Hague 'Tribunal', if the 'media' would cover it, Milosevic has the better case. When it comes to facts, Ritter has the better case. When it comes to priorities, W has the better case.

I'm at this conclusion , sans stories of W being an exalcoholic, or Ritter meeting with an adult seductress.

[aristeides]

Was it the same ADA in the coke case as in Ritter's case or was it a different one.

I don't know. The story doesn't seem to say whether it was the same ADA.

[pepsionice]

The Iraqis are not stupid. It was the same way in Panama with Ted Kennedy. He was on the committe to handle the canal treaty and was constantly running down to Panama to have discussions with various folks...except it was off at some resort and Panamanian politicans provided younger women to entertain Ted constantly. They probably had cameras in Ted's room and caught every act....so they had the advantage of negotiation when the Americans finally got serious.

My guess is that Ritter did the same thing and they urged him to provide a clean cover for the regime. He complied and thought it would be simple. It got him on CNN, and helped make him a major Iraqi supporter in the media.

[aristeides]

If Ritter was an Iraqi agent all along, and the Iraqis put him up to blasting them in '98, that shows a lot of subtlety.

No, why was it, I wonder, that the inspectors in Iraq were seldom able to surprise the Iraqis?

[Axenolith]

I know these events aren't related because the flip was earlier but I'm wondering if the Iraqis could have set him up with a minor and then "grabbed him by the shorthairs" with some photo's. Heck, the Russians used to milk that ploy (not necessarily or exclusively with minors though) like a cow for compromising folks...

[beckett]

The end of Scott Ritter's nascent political career, thank God.

[rolling_stone]

Different, from the article:

Clyne's office was heavily criticized three months before Ritter's arrest after another assistant district attorney agreed to drop crack cocaine charges against a renowned Loudonville surgeon, Dr. Darroch Moores. In that case, the assistant district attorney also failed to inform the district attorney.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" When you can't beat the man's arguments, attack his character"

If Ritter was involved in a vicious custody battle and the ex wife lobbed these accusations,you would have a point.If this only involved the word of a young girl and not an undercover policewoman( and possibly 2 different LE,on separate occasions )you would have a point. If this happened in the recent past,where a set up could be alleged,you would have a point.If Scott was caught in a porno theater,alone,ala Pee Wee,you would have a point.This is not on the same plane as the smear jobs against Justice Thomas and Newt. There are tangibles here that cannot be ignored.If Scott is innocent-he should come forward and lay out all the facts,he should fight for his reputation.He should be as passionate about his reputation, as he is about defending Saddam.

[pepsionice]

The Iraqis have tons of money...they simply bought off one or two inspectors. These inspectors are kinda like the olympic idiots who award the games to cities...if you slip some fool from Liberia $50k...who is on the inspection team...he will call Saddam personally and report the next team location.

[DeathfromBelow]

Only legal in GA where the age of consent is 16.

[eno_]

Given that pedophiles are usually acting as part of a larger pattern, it is the high probability that something much worse

Bingo. An arrest on a first offense is very rare. There will be much more to this before it is over.

[demnomo]

Scott Ritter becomes the Pee Wee Herman of the Peace Movement. R.I.P.

I'm not so sure. Hey, we've even got a few foolish FReepers who think that Scotty was set up, got a bum rap, or believe it's no big deal for middle-aged guys to troll the internet looking for underage sex toys to trifle with. The cynic in me says that even with Drudge pushing the story, the liberal mainstream media probably won't put their latest peace and Bush-hating poster boy to the fire. Time will tell.

[demnomo]

Sorry, but it smacks of the Coke can and Clarence Thomas, XXX videos and Bork, campaign workers and Gingrich. When you can't beat the man's arguments, attack his character. Find a fault, or invent one and run with it. Let the accused defend the negative, it works every time, even on FR.

So, basically, what you are trying to tell us is that we are all suffering from a mass delusion and that the charges against Scotty are made up. By whom? The Illuminati? Grey Aliens from Zeti Reticuli? Sorry, Buster, Scotty got caught, not once, but twice, trying to get his pants down in front of a fourteen-year-old girl and then a sixteen-year-old girl. The guy is a perverted nut--as well as a turn-coat traitor who defends and visits Uncle Saddamn. You and your pal Scotty can sue me for saying so!

[demnomo]

Oh, and I throughly enjoy attacking both Scott Ritter's character and those who belive the accusations against him are false! :)

[The KG9 Kid]

William Rivers Pitt has finally hit the big time...

... He's got his very own Tawana Brawley!

I have to wonder what else Ritter is hiding. If his denials on paedophiliac stalking can't be trusted, what can we believe him on?

[duckln]

trying to get his pants down in front of a fourteen-year-old girl and then a sixteen-year-old girl.

What fourteen, sixteen year old? There wasn't any, only a cop seductress impersonator! The only way to entrap Scotty was to have a 'seductress' call him. Not once but twice, even then they couldn't make a convincing case. These detectives picked Scotty for a sting. Maybe not illegal, but sure smells.

The guy is a perverted nut maybe, but not proven, you could be too.
as well as a turn-coat traitor. If you were the NYT's, he'd have your butt in court. What is really galling is, the man objects, you disaggree, and then proceed to completely vilify the Marines, a onetime lead inspector and father of two. Have you no shame. Geez!

[duckln]

There are tangibles here that cannot be ignored

In Gingrich's and Thomas's they were not ignored, they filled the press for weeks. In Clintons case also his tryst was fodder for months.

Upshot was that in niether cases, once the smoke cleared, has it substancially effected the positions they take.

You also seem to propose a lot of 'ifs'. To be short, your

.If this only involved the word of a young girl and not an undercover policewoman

I may believe a young girl over a 'phone sex' expert. Where is she?

[demnomo]

I have plenty of shame. You and your hero Scott Ritter have none what so ever. Pervert Ritter wasn't trolling the net, nor showing up at fast food joints, to meet an adult cop. He was actively pursuing minor girls to satisfy his perverted lust. Duh!

This is my last post to you. Arguing with fools is not worth my time. You are a fool to believe that Scott Ritter was "entrapped"--not once, but TWICE! Married man Ritter was trolling for underage nookie and got caught. Thank heavens his arrest, counseling and now this news story may have permanently deterred his predatory, despicable behavior. RITTER WAS ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR A VICTIM TO SATISFY HIS LUSTS KNOWING FULL WELL THAT IT WAS IMMORAL AND ILLEGAL!!! I wouldn't want any woman--aged fourteen to fourty+--in a room with such a nutcase. Go ahead. Defend him. Say he was set up by the New World Order. Sing his praises while he visits Saddamn in Bagdad at this very minute.

Ex-Marine. Former Inspector. Father of two. Pah! Ritter is a disgrace to the Marine Corps as well as his family. He deserves scorn on all counts.

[Smedley]

"He [Ritter] was actively pursuing minor girls to satisfy his perverted lust. Duh!"

I think this says it perfectly. Ritter's credability is shot. A pattern of chasing the underage nookey is prime blackmail material. Want to bet Saddam or someone else has more than a few DVDs of Ritter in action?

[_Jim]

The only way to entrap Scotty was to have a 'seductress' call him.

Not once but twice, even then they couldn't make a convincing case.

You mean to tell me NO ONE has called you to task on these whoppers you're spinning?