Posted on 01/21/2003 6:57:20 AM PST by 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."
In any case, this whole business makes him enough of a security risk that if he says the sky is blue, I'm going to go outside and check for myself.
You'll get no argument from me! Don't do anything you wouldn't be willing to discuss at the Church Coffee Hour on Sunday, that's my motto!
I was just responding to a statement that it seems that a lot of high office holders appear to be perverts. I think that this may be due to the fact that there are a lot of people who are very interested in providing them with temptations that are generally not present. Match that up with an underlying proclivity, and you have a ready-made subject for blackmail.
One would have to assume that this is going on, wouldn't one?
WHY DID THE ALBANY ASSISTANT DA KEEP THIS (LETTING RITTER OFF) FROM HER BOSS?
Ritter's best bud William Pitt and his liberal ilk probably think that this sort of behavior is cool. Like their hero Clinton, sexual exploitation of women is A OK for lefties, so long as the "heroes" are useful idiots that support the liberal agenda. Believe me, Democratic and left-wing men are notorious women-degraders. (I should know. I was once a Democrat until Clinton's chauvinistic, hypocritical behavior exposed the truth about Dem/liberal DENIAL and DOUBLE STANDARDS.) Liberals are totally without shame. At least conservatives will hold accountable and then get rid of their embarassing jerks. Liberals, LIE, EXCUSE, and DEFEND their sleazoids. (Oh, and liberals also BLAME the VRWC for their own kind's despicable behavior.)
Is there a chance that this is just a flame job on him to shut him up. This way he is spending so much time defending against these charges that he cannot focus on other issues?
Ritter is a pig but I had to ask.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.