Racine Babysitting Monster Unleashed on Innocent Children

One evening this past summer I pulled out an old movie that I had not seen in years and watched it with my younger stepdaughter. It was a 1987 movie that took place in Chicago, and I recall that it was a bit controversial when it was released 25 years ago. That's because the teenage babysitter used the F-word during a scene on the subway, to the delight of teen viewers and the dismay of adults who heard her say metaphorically, "Don't f--- with the babysitter."

Fastforward to 2012 and a middle American city about 60 miles north of Chicago. Most likely a number of parents in that mid-sized city of about 80,000 wish their babysitter had heard and heeded that message with regard to their children. And this babysitting story is as far from a comedy as you can get.

Finding someone you trust to care for your children while you work or go to school is often a difficult task, especially if you live in an area where you do not know many people. So, when someone offers to help you out and babysit your kids, it may seem like the proverbial gift horse into whose mouth you don't want to look.

In Racine, Wisconsin, some parents are finding that just such an offer from a "nice guy" and their acceptance of his offer created nothing short of a nightmare for their innocent young children.

View Larger Map

A 28-year-old man named Alexander Richter has left many in Racine in shock by his dastardly crimes. Richter was a student at Gateway Technical College in Racine who preyed upon his fellow students -- and their children. Some time in the last year, Richter offered to babysit some of his classmates' children, and some of them took him up on his offer.

But sadly, "Alex" was doing more than merely babysitting many of these children. His activities came to light when one of the children he had babysat, a seven-year-old boy, inappropriately touched a classmate. When the boy was questioned by his mother about what he had done, he said that he was only doing to the classmate what "Alex" had done to him and his sister.

Alexander Richter

According to a criminal complaint, Richter approached at least one classmate last year and offered to baby-sit her children – a son who was then 6 years old and a daughter who had just turned 4. Richter is accused of making at least 11 videos of himself having sex with both children, including one in which police say he guided the boy into attempted sexual activity with his sister.

When the mother reported this to police and they went to serve a search warrant on Richter, he readily directed them to multiple video recordings he had made of himself molesting not just the two children who had reported him to the police but of other victims as well. One DVD, titled "Monster Unleashed," showed Richter having sex in his home with four different children -- three girls and a boy. So far, 49 charges involving at least six victims have been laid against the man. Police suspect there are other victims whose identities have not yet been determined.

Richter's disgusting, atrocious, low-life crimes give a whole new meaning to the "Richter Scale." The monster is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, November 21, the day before Thanksgiving.

 

************************