Ex-U.N. nuclear weapons inspector Scott Ritter charged in child-sex sting
NY
DAILY NEWS January 14th 2010

Ex-U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter was nabbed in a online child-sex sting, accused of engaging in a graphic chat with undercover cop posing as a 15-year-old girl.

It was the second time Ritter, 48, of upstate Delmar, was caught in a kiddie sex dragnet. In 2001, he blamed his troubles on a vast right-wing conspiracy, and the charges were later dismissed.

On Thursday, Ritter was keeping his mouth shut.

"I told you guys I'm not going to say anything, so please just go away," said the staunch critic of the Bush administration's push toward war with Iraq.

Monroe County detectives busted Ritter after they traced his explicit online chat through a cell phone number he gave a Barrett Township, Pa., undercover cop posing as underaged teen named "Emily" on the Web.

Detectives said Ritter was allegedly trolling chat rooms for jail bait last February when he came upon Emily's profile photo and asked for more pictures, according to an affidavit obtained by the Pocono Record.

Ritter, the married father of twin teen daughters, allegedly turned on his Web-cam and fondled himself on camera. Cops have photos of the perverted act.

He was arrested in November and released on $25,000 bail.

In a 2003 TV interview Ritter admitted he had faced online child-sex charges in New York in 2001, but claimed the case was trumped up to silence his criticism of the Iraq war.

He served as a UN weapons inspector from 1991 to 1998 before resigning.