Registered Offender Had Sex With 14-Year-Old, Police Say

By Jack Tobias

A 19-year-old Upper Nazareth man who police say is a registered sex offender is facing new charges—for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl in two places, including a Lower Nazareth laundromat, court records say.

While Vincent Steven Ritchie is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and other counts, the girl told police that she and Ritchie consider each other to be boyfriend and girlfriend, the records say.

Ritchie was being held in Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The records say the alleged incidents occurred this past November and December. One of the locations is listed as the Maytag Laundry Center in Lower Nazareth, the records say. The other location allegedly was a second-floor bedroom in a Nazareth home.

Police talked to the girl Jan. 6, and she said she and Ritchie had sex inside the laundromat and inside the Nazareth home, the complaint says.

Ritchie, whose address is listed as 241 Hemlock Lane in Upper Nazareth, is charged with:

—Two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16.

—Two counts of statutory sexual assault.

—Two counts of corruption of minors.

—Two counts of indecent assault with a person less than 16.

—One count of indecent exposure.

An arrest warrant for Ritchie was approved Saturday. He was taken into custodySunday and arraigned by on-duty District Judge Diane Marakovits of Northampton.