CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER ARRESTED ON NEW CHARGES

Newsday

Nathaniel Richardson, a 52 year old Roosevelt man, was previously convicted of attempted sodomyand is now charged with another sex offense for repeatedly touching a 16 year old girl on herbehind. Richardson, who lives at 24 Ronald Place, knew the Hempstead girl's family for years andwould do favors for them, such as driving the teenager to school. The unwanted touching had beengoing on for about a month when the girl finally told a classmate. Richardson served just over 2months for a 5 month attempted sodomy conviction in 1996, but the crime was not serious enough torequire neighborhood notification of him as a sex offender. Advocates of strengthening Megan's Law,which requires registration of some sex offenders, said Richardson's alleged offense is an examplethat even minor sex offenders can strike again and that communities have the right to know theirwhereabouts. Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law in Stony Brook said,There are thousands that are protected. For Nathan Richardson, we didn't even have an opportunityto be made aware of his presence because of bureaucratic red tape that should have been taken careof years ago. Richardson is being held on $5,000 bond or $2,000 cash bail on charges of forcibletouching and endangering the welfare of a child.

(New York)