Kevin Ricks
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Kevin Garfield Ricks | |
---|---|
Born | 1960 (age 63–64) |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | English teacher |
Criminal status | In prison |
Criminal charge | Production and possession of child pornography Child sexual abuse[1] |
Penalty | 45 years |
Kevin Garfield Ricks (born 1960) is a former schoolteacher and convicted
Background
Ricks graduated from Roanoke Rapids High School in 1978, and from
Criminal history
1970s
Ricks targeted his first known victim at a summer camp for disabled children in North Carolina in 1978. This victim, a 10-year-old boy, was attending Camp Holiday Trails, at which Ricks was a counselor. It is also at this summer camps where Ricks met his wife, Abby, who would accompany him on his travels around Japan and the United States without discovering Ricks' activities with the boys he mentored.[2][3]
1980s
After graduating from college, Ricks worked at four different private schools in the southeastern United States from 1983 to 1987. The private schools at which he was employed include Brandon Hall School in Atlanta, Georgia, where Ricks served in a position that required him to live in the dormitory hall with students.[2] In 1988, Ricks moved to Kyushu, Japan, to teach English in the town of Oguni. While living in Oguni, he was popular with the local students and routinely held gatherings with his students in his private room.
1990s
In December 1992, Abby joined him in Aso City, Japan. One victim to come forward, Takashi Kajiwara, says that in 1994, Ricks took him to the United States for a cross country road trip. On this road trip, Kajiwara says that Ricks offered him shots of tequila and he drank until he passed out. Video tapes and photographs of Ricks undressing and molesting Kajiwara were recovered by police. Ricks and his wife left Japan in 1995 after he was accused of shoplifting and the school officials decided to let his contract lapse.[3]
Ricks taught for one year on a temporary teaching license in North Carolina, and immediately afterwards took a job in
2000s
In 2000, Ricks received a three-year teaching license for the state of
Even after he stopped teaching in Caroline County, Ricks continued to host foreign exchange students, this time with American Scandinavian Student Exchange (ASSE). After a German exchange student was removed from Ricks' home during the 2003–04 school year, the student filed a restraining order against Ricks, alleging that Ricks frequently called and offered gifts. Although the restraining order was not granted, ASSE fired Ricks.
In 2006, parents of a 13-year-old boy reported that Ricks asked their son to sit on his lap and play video games, although a police investigation resulted in no charges. In the spring of 2007, Ricks was convicted of
In 2007, shortly before he was again convicted and spent a weekend in jail, Ricks was hired in Manassas, Virginia. On his application, Ricks stated that he had never been arrested for or convicted of any crime.[4]
In 2008, Ricks was tutoring a boy in Fauquier County, Virginia, and the boy's parents went to the school with a series of Myspace messages between the boy and Ricks, as well as allegations that Ricks was stalking the boy and one of his friends.[5] A year after the accusations of stalking, the Manassas school district recommended Ricks for a full five-year teaching permit, despite his ineligibility. This recommendation was denied by the Virginia Department of Education.
The same year he was denied for his teaching license, Ricks molested one of his 16-year-old former students during winter break. He would later recount the event in his journals, referring to it as a romantic occasion.
Arrest
On February 18, 2010, Ricks was arrested after reports of inappropriate Facebook messages between the boy and Ricks were received.[3][5] When his home in Federalsburg, Maryland, was searched by police, dozens of handwritten journals were discovered that detailed more than three decades of Ricks' serial sexual abuse. In addition to the journals, police also recovered numerous pieces of video and photographic evidence of the abuse of many young boys by Ricks.[3][5]
Conviction
On March 3, 2011, Ricks pleaded guilty to seven charges of producing and possessing
Additional charges
On January 22, 2013, Ricks was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison for sexually abusing a student he hosted in Federalsburg, Maryland in the 2003–2004 school year.[1]
References
- ^ a b White, Josh (January 22, 2013). "Kevin Ricks, former Manassas teacher, sentenced to 20 more years in prison". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Path of a predator". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f White, Josh; Harden, Blaine; Buske, Jennifer (July 25, 2010). "Kevin Ricks' career as teacher, tutor shows pattern of abuse that goes back decades". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c d White, Josh (February 22, 2013). "Talking with evil: My interviews with a serial killer, rapist and child molester". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Former teacher in Virginia facing child porn charges". CNN. July 28, 2010. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
- ^ White, Josh; Hedgpeth, Dana (March 3, 2011). "Ex-Va. teacher Ricks pleads guilty to child porn, gets 25 years". Retrieved June 23, 2023.