Revealed: Multimillionaire du Pont family heir was spared
jail for raping his three-year-old daughter because judge decided he would 'not
fare well' behind bars
Robert Richards was charged with fourth-degree rape of his
young daughter but was spared jail
Shocking details about the offense and an alleged assault on
his infant son have emerged in a lawsuit brought about by his ex-wife Tracy
Richards is an unemployed heir living off his multi-million
dollar trust fund
His ex-wife is suing for compensation for her two children
and the emotional distress they've endured
In sentencing him in 2009, Judge Jurden said Richards would
benefit from participating in a sex offenders rehabilitation program rather
than prison
Shocking details have emerged of how a multimillionaire heir
to the du Pont chemical business was convicted of raping his three-year-old
daughter but escaped serving prison time after a Delaware Superior Court judge
ruled he would ‘not fare well’.
Robert H. Richards IV was charged with fourth-degree rape in
2009 after he admitted that he had raped his daughter almost a decade ago
Robert Richards was charged with fourth-degree rape of his
young daughter but was spared jail
News of the shocking leniency shown to Richards has only
just emerged in the details of a lawsuit filed against him by his ex-wife Tracy
In her lawsuit, Tracy Richards charges that he penetrated
his daughter with his fingers while masturbating, and subsequently also
assaulted his toddler son as well.
Tracy Richards, who along with the two children now live in
a rental home, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for assault,
negligence, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress on
his two children.
Robert Richards is an unemployed heir living off his trust
fund. He is the great grandson of du Pont family patriarch Irenee du Pont, a
chemical baron.
According to the lawsuit filed by Richards' ex-wife, he also
admitted to sexually assaulting his infant son in addition to his daughter
between 2005 and 2007.
Richards was initially indicted on two counts of
second-degree child rape, felonies that translate to a 10-year mandatory jail
sentence per count. He was released on $60,000 bail while awaiting his charges.
Richards hired one of the state's top law firms and was
offered a plea deal of one count of fourth-degree rape charges - which carried
no mandatory minimum prison sentencing.
He accepted, and admitted to the assault, reports the
Detroit Free Press.
Superior Court Judge Jan Jurden sentenced Richards to eight
years in prison but suspended that for Level II probation, which requires
monthly visits with a case officer.
In sentencing him, Judge Jurden said Richards would benefit
from participating in a sex offenders rehabilitation program rather than
serving any prison time.
Currently on probation, Richards has never been charged with
crimes against his son.
The lawsuit claims that Richards raped his daughter, now 11,
in 2005 when she was three.
Several times, he entered her bedroom at night while she
slept and penetrated her with his fingers while masturbating, said the lawsuit,
which includes documents from the criminal case.
Abuse of the children occurred at both of Richards' homes,
including the 5,800-square-foot Greenville mansion that he paid $1.8 million
for.
Richards, who is 6'4 and about 250 lbs, told the girl 'to
keep what he had done to her a secret,' but in October 2007 she told her
grandmother, who informed Tracy Richards, the lawsuit said.
The girl was taken to her pediatrician, whom she told about
the abuse, and New Castle County police arrested him that December.
The proven abuse of his daughter and alleged assault of his
son has caused his children 'long-term injuries,' the lawsuit filed Tuesday
said, perhaps including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual
dysfunction and shame.
His daughter also has 'repressed memories of some instances
of the abuse she suffered,' and if the son was abused, the same is true with
him, the suit said.
With medical treatment, the lawsuit said, those memories
will likely 'begin to surface.'
'Making matters worse this self-admitted rapist and child
abuser has not paid a single penny to these children for his crimes. There is
no provision whatsoever for them for their future after they turn 18,' said
Attorney Thomas Crumplar, who is representing Tracy Richards.
At Tuesday's press conference he stood alongside Tracy and
her mother Donna Burg. Burg, the maternal grandmother, is the one who alarmed
Tracy of the abuse after talking to one of the grandchildren in 2007.
Richards is a scion of two prominent Delaware families - the
du Pont family who built the chemical empire and the Richards family who
co-founded the prestigious corporate law firm Richards Layton & Finger.
His father, Robert H. Richards III, was a partner in the law
firm until his 2008 retirement.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2593119/Revealed-Multimillionaire-du-Pont-family-heir-spared-jail-raping-three-year-old-daughter-judge-decided-not-fair-bars.html#ixzz2xYHSTUjk
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