Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Norristown Acting Police Chief James Angelucci announced today the arrest of John Richards, 57, an eighth-grade teacher at Blockson Middle School (Norristown School District), on felony charges of Attempted Institutional Sexual Assault, Unlawful Contact With a Minor and other charges.
According to the District Attorney’s post, Norristown police received information on March 17 about a teacher’s inappropriate contact with a student. An investigation found that Richards called a 13-year-old female student to his desk at the back of the classroom to show her a typed message on his cellphone.
The message said that he wanted to kiss her two times during an upcoming field trip that Richards was chaperoning and added, “Let me know yes or no before he [sic] have to get off the bus…”
The girl immediately contacted her father, the principal and the school resource officer to report what had happened.
Norristown Police later reviewed Richards’ cellphone and located a second message to the girl, which said: “That came out all wrong. I’m sorry for demanding anything. I have no right. When I see you my heart skips a beat. When you are around I find myself staring without meaning to. I wonder what your lips taste like and I hope to god there’s a chance for me to find out. I don’t know what else to say besides I think you’re amazing.”
Richards turned himself in this morning to Norristown police. He is charged with felony Attempted Institutional Sexual Assault, Attempted Solicitation for Institutional Sexual Assault and Unlawful Contact With a Minor—Sexual Offense, as well as misdemeanor charges of Corruption of Minors, Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Attempted Indecent Assault of Person Less Than 16 Years Old.
Richards was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Todd Stephens, who set bail at $10,000 cash bail, with additional conditions of no contact with the victim or minors. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 27, the district attorney said.
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Photo: Montco DA