Ritter was the subject in two law enforcement sting operations in 2001.[30]
He was charged in June 2001 with trying to set up a meeting with an undercover police officer posing as a 16-year-old girl.[31][32]
He was charged with a misdemeanor crime of "attempted endangerment of the welfare of a child". The charge was dismissed and the record was sealed after he completed six months of probation.[32][3]
Ritter was arrested again in November 2009[34] over communications with a police decoy he met on an Internet chat site. Police said that he exposed himself, via a web camera, after the officer repeatedly identified himself as a 15-year-old girl.[16]
Ritter said in his own testimony during the trial that he believed the other party was an adult acting out her fantasy.[2]
The next month, Ritter waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was released on a $25,000 unsecured bail.
Charges included "unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communications facility, corruption of minors, indecent exposure, possessing instruments of crime, criminal attempt and criminal solicitation".[35]
Ritter rejected a plea bargain and was found guilty of all but the criminal attempt count in a courtroom in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on April 14, 2011.[16][36]
In October 2011, he received a sentence of 1½ to 5½ years in prison.[37] He was sent to Laurel Highlands state prison in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in March 2012 and paroled in September 2014.[1]
Since 2014[edit]Ritter rejects the Western media's coverage of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[38][39]
On April 6, 2022, Ritter was suspended from Twitter for violating its rule on "harassment and abuse" after he posted a tweet accusing Ukraine of "crimes against humanity," questioning events surrounding the Bucha massacre and calling U.S. President Joe Biden a "war criminal" for "seeking to shift blame for the Bucha murders" to Russia.[40] The next day, April 7, 2022, Newsweek reported his Twitter account had been reinstated.[41]
What a guy! The hypocrisy of the far right is really something though. You'd think they'd be appalled by his convictions.
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