Feds obtain sealed case of Ritter's arrest

AP | 1/25/03

[kattracks]

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Federal authorities have obtained the sealed records in the alleged Internet sex sting of former U.N. chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter to review for possible federal charges.

State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi signed an order Thursday requiring police and Albany County prosecutors to provide records and any evidence to the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office.

Federal authorities filed a motion earlier in the week to obtain the records to determine whether federal laws were violated, the Daily Gazette of Schenectady and the Times Union of Albany reported in Saturday editions.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericak refused to comment to the newspapers. A message to his office by The Associated Press was not immediately returned Saturday.

Ritter, 41, a critic of the Bush administration's push toward war with Iraq, acknowledged his June 2001 arrest this week in national television appearances but said he was prohibited from discussing details because the charges had been dismissed and the records sealed.

Ritter has suggested recent news reports about the arrest were an attempt to silence him. He said the publicity has forced him to cancel a recent trip to Baghdad, where he said he would have offered an alternative to military action.

Broadcast reports when he was arrested and recent newspaper reports have indicated Ritter was caught in an Internet sex sting, something he did not admit.

At the time of the arrest, NBC station WNYT-TV of Albany reported that William Scott Ritter Jr. -- Ritter's full name -- was charged with trying to lure an undercover police officer posing as a 16-year-old girl to a restaurant.

WNYT broadcast Ritter's mug shot but did not make the connection to his role as the chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq during most of the 1990s.

He was charged with attempted endangerment of a child, a misdemeanor that carries up to 90 days in jail, reports said. The case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, meaning that if he stayed out of trouble for six months, the charges would disappear and the file would be sealed.

[cake_crumb]

"My mother has been a registered Democrat all her life but she has voted straight Republican since Carter"

Actually, that was my point: the media tried to make a big deal out of Ritter's party affiliation. The only reason it didn't work was because CONSERVATIVES want this sick predator away from our children, and it is the rabid lefties who are defending him...so the promanent "Ritter, a Republican" label in every article did nothing. To us it was like "Who cares?!?! He's a PERVERT!!"

If we conservatives hadn't stuck to our guns and our principles, Ritter would be in Iraq right now spewing anti-American hate rants to the Iraqis, while the Liebermans, Edwards's and whomevertheheckelseisrunnings would have made Ritter's party affiliation a platrm on which to stand.

Unfortunately, Ritter's obviously a leftist in a badly cut conservative suit now, which is why only rabid leftists who don't give a d@mn about kids defend the slimeball.

You're mother has more courage than I do to register Democrat after Carter, even is she DOES vote Republican (thank heaven) <G>

G'night!

[Mo1]

You're mother has more courage than I do to register Democrat after Carter, even is she DOES vote Republican (thank heaven)

I have a brother that is a registered Democrat ONLY because is wants to be counted as one of those who jumped party lines to vote for the other side .. LOL

[woofie]

The last word (at least for some) "let them eat cake!"

[woofie]

I am trying to find out more about an anti war "celebrity" named Amy Goodman...She is on the radio and was recently out here (Albuquerque) doing some anti war deal....Any info on her?

[Cultural Jihad]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Amy+Goodman+Albuquerque&btnG=Google+Search

[Cultural Jihad]

The articles never state which fringe Marxist party she may adhere to, but the term "Pacifica Radio" should cover most of the Marxist-Leninist professional malcontents out there.

[woofie]

Thanks ...I outgrew Public radio a while back...what I dont understand is how this woman can be supported by NPR(our taxes)which I assume picks up Pacifica...or are they totally separate?

[Cultural Jihad]

Separate, as you said.

[FBD]

Why does this come under Federal jurisdiction?
Is it because of the crime being over state lines on the Internet, or is there suspected corruption in the DA office?

[Bonaparte]

I've been praying for something like this.

Praise God and thankyou Jesus!

[Bonaparte]

"Thank goodness for the Daily Gazette or we still would never have heard about this."

This has the intelligence community's fingerprints all over it. Believe me, if it hadn't been the Daily Gazette, it would have been another news outlet. Ritter has been watched closely and now he's in deep, deep guacamole.

[Bonaparte]

Thanks for the info on Crummey. Any contacts in Albany who can fill in the blanks on Preiser?

[Bonaparte]

"Across state lines? Wasn't it all inside New York State?"

USC 18 sec 2243

[Bonaparte]

"Then he recently switched sides. I know he did a lot of work for the DNC and still runs with the same crowds."

The other two judges who share the bench with him are both Republicans. Is Colonie a Republican bastion?

[Bonaparte]

"Why would a Republican go with so light a sentence on so serious a charge?"

Arlen Specter is a "Republican." So is Chaffee. And so was Jeffords at one time.

[Bonaparte]

USC 18 sec 2243

[NetValue]

"There is more to this story and I can't help but think the DNC is involved. Ritter was compromised somewhere and sometime and I believe either Hillary, Bill or that smarmy Terry McAuliffe has something very big on him"

Ritter will get scrutiny to see whether he was being blackmailed while in Iraq. If he was, he will be scrutinized to see if he was a witting inspector who allowed certain Iraqi weapons to be covertly developed (as in, did he turn a blind eye to what was going on, or worse, participate). Only the people in the dark reaches of counter-intel know whether there is reason to suspect Ritter worked for Iraq, so this is pure speculation to advise you what to be watching for in news developments. He is probably innocent of the dark scenario above - but the CI people have to look at him in a new light now, one that could explain just why he flipped so deeply and quickly to become pro-Iraq.

[nicmarlo]

Why does this come under Federal jurisdiction?

Well, I shall defer to Bonaparte, who seems to know some U.S. legal codes; he posted the reference of 18 USC Sec. 2243, which states, in part:

18 USC Sec. 2243
01/26/98

TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 109A - SEXUAL ABUSE

Sec. 2243. Sexual abuse of a minor or ward

STATUTE

(a) Of a Minor. - Whoever crosses a State line with intent to engage in a sexual act with a person who has not attained the age of 12 years, or, in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison, knowingly engages in a sexual act with another person who -

(1) has attained the age of 12 years but has not attained the age of 16 years; and

(2) is at least four years younger than the person so engaging; or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.

[nicmarlo]

I suddenly feel the need to vacuum myself up...

lol : )

[nicmarlo]

FYI, this a.m., on the New York Post, an article by Linda Stasi

HERE LIE BUBBA AND FRIENDS
January 26, 2003
-------------------------------------------------------

WHILE millions are celebrating Super Bowl Sunday today, millions more will be commemorating a more important day in our nation's history - "Big Liar's Day."

Yes, today marks five years to the day that President Clinton looked the entire nation in the eye and said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."

Here then, an homage to some of the liars, fabricators and truth-stretchers whose mumbo-jumbo may not have been big enough to threaten an administration or undermine the entire economic structure of the United States (see big liar CEOs), but were good enough to keep us in newsprint for the last five years:

* * *

Perverted U.N.

TALK about UN-fit for service. I don't want to panic or anything, but the only thing standing between us and complete nuclear annihilation rests in the hands of the half-wits at the United Nations who've managed to hire two accused perverts as weapons of mass destruction inspectors!

First there was Harvey John McGeorge, who holds an advanced degree as doctor of S&M arts and letters from the prestigious Leather University.

Now there's Scott Ritter, a former U.N. weapons of mass destruction inspector who reportedly was moonlighting as a child Internet sicko when he got nailed twice in police stings.

Ritter actually had the nerve to whine to an upstate radio station, "because of what happened here . . . I'm not on that airplane [to Baghdad]." The real question is, because of what happened there, why aren't you in jail?

[snip]