Putin beordrar styrkor att gå in i Ukraina - INVASION NU (2022-02-24)

Ritter was the subject of two law enforcement sting operations in 2001.[36] He was charged in June 2001 with trying to set up a meeting with an undercover police officer posing as a 16-year-old girl.[37][38] He was charged with a misdemeanor crime of "attempted endangerment of the welfare of a child". The charge was dismissed and the record was sealed after he completed six months of pre-trial probation.[38][8] After this information was made public in early 2003, Ritter said that the timing of the leak was politically motivated in order to silence his opposition to the Bush administration's push toward war with Iraq.[37][38][39]

Ritter was arrested again in November 2009[40] over communications with a police decoy he met on an Internet chat site. Police said that he exposed himself, via a web camera, after the officer repeatedly identified himself as a 15-year-old girl.[5] Ritter said in his own testimony during the trial that he believed the other party was an adult acting out her fantasy.[7] The chat room had an "age 18 and above" policy, which Ritter stated to the undercover officer.[5]

The next month, Ritter waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was released on $25,000 unsecured bail. Charges included "unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communications facility, corruption of minors, indecent exposure, possessing instruments of crime, criminal attempt and criminal solicitation".[2] Ritter rejected a plea bargain and was found guilty of all but the criminal attempt count in a courtroom in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on April 14, 2011.[5][41]

In October 2011, he received a sentence of 1½ to 5½ years in prison.[3] He was sent to Laurel Highlands state prison in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in March 2012 and paroled in September 2014.[4][7][8]

These limited attacks are notably ongoing as the pace of Russian operations around Bakhmut, led by the Wagner Group, seems to be decreasing. Following the Russian capture of Soledar in mid-January, the attacks on Bakhmut and surrounding settlements have apparently dropped off, suggesting that the Russian offensive operation to take Bakhmut may be culminating.
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The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces only conducted assaults on three settlements in the wider Bakhmut area, which is markedly less than in previous days.[28] Geolocated footage published on January 24 likely indicates that Russian forces have advanced west of Klishchiivka (7km southwest of Bakhmut).[29] Russian milbloggers claimed that Wagner Group fighters advanced north of Klishchiivka and attempted to advance from the settlement towards Ivanivske (6km west of Bakhmut).[30] A Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces are conducting offensive operations in the direction of Ivanivske intending to cut the T0504 highway that connects Bakhmut and Kostyantynivka.[31]