FAIRMONT, W.Va. — A Marion County man, who’d fled the state amid allegations of sexual abuse, is in jail in West Virginia on an $800,000 bond.
Robert Richards, 66, went on a multi-state run when he learned a 5 year old family member told police she’d been abused.
West Virginia State Police tracked debit card use to Richards in St. Johnsbury, Vermont where US Marshals later arrested him.
Sgt. Adam Scott, State Police Crimes Against Children Unit Troop 1 Coordinator, interviewed Richards in Vermont where he confessed to molesting the victim multiple times. Richards also told Scott he sexually abused a 4-year-old female relative in Connecticut between 1967 and 1968.
Richards was arraigned in Marion County Magistrate Court on 4 counts of first-degree sexual assault and 4 counts of sexual abuse by custodian. He was taken to the North Central Regional Jail.