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SOUTH SALT LAKE — A man was arrested Monday after exposing himself to a young girl in South Salt Lake.
Robert Peter Ritt, 72, of Provo was arrested Monday at the Columbus Center (2450 South 500 East), which houses a public library and charter school, after allegedly exposing himself to a 5-year-old on Friday.
Gary Keller of the South Salt Lake Police said the girl ran and told her parents about the incident, which prompted them to call the police and report the incident. Surveillance cameras on one of the buildings corroborated the young girls' claims.
Ritt was identified on surveillance video the following day on two separate occasions, and again on Monday when a building employee identified Ritt and notified police. Officers with the South Salt Lake Police Department found Ritt on the patio of the Columbus Center.
"According to court documents from Pennsylvania after a similar arrest in that state earlier this year, Ritt has more than 30 different aliases, three Social Security numbers, has been arrested in eight states and is a registered sex offender in Washington."
Ritt was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail and is being charged with lewdness with prior offense involving a child, a third degree felony. Ritt was ordered in 2005 to complete a sexual evaluation after pleading no contest to lewdness. He was placed on a 12-month probation and ordered to not have unsupervised contact with any female minors.
According to court documents from Pennsylvania after a similar arrest in that state earlier this year, Ritt has more than 30 different aliases, three Social Security numbers, has been arrested in eight states and is a registered sex offender in Washington.
In May of this year, Ritt was arrested in Westmoreland County, Pa., for investigation of corruption of minors, indecent exposure and open lewdness, according to public records.
Charging documents state that Ritt exposed himself to an 8-year-old girl at a truck stop in South Huntingdon, Penn. When police in Pennsylvania interviewed, him, Ritt told them he, "has been arrested before for exposing himself and for other sex crimes." He said he had been arrested in New York, Oregon and Massachusetts, according to court records.
In 2011, in Jackson County Circuit Court in Oregon, Ritt was charged with failing to report as a sex offender.
South Salt Lake Police are concerned that there may be more unreported cases and are asking for anyone who has information of a similar occurrence to contact South Salt Lake Police at 801-840-4000.
