Serial offender arrested in Portland on indecent conduct charge – Press Herald

A Portland man with a long history of public masturbation and other crimes was arrested Wednesday morning after police found him engaging in indecent conduct, in plain view of rush-hour traffic on Brighton Avenue.

Steven Ricci, 59, was arrested and charged with indecent conduct and visual sexual aggression against a child under 14 after several drivers saw him on his front porch just before 9 a.m., according to Portland police.

When officers arrived at the scene following a 911 call, they found Ricci wearing nothing but his shoes, police said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he was being held at the Cumberland County Jail on $500 bail.

Ricci, who has cerebral palsy, has been convicted of more than a dozen crimes since 1990, including assault, disorderly conduct and violating conditions of release.

For years, law enforcement officials have expressed frustration about the justice systems inability to stop Riccis pattern of conduct.

Our concern for the community is, we dont have the resources or the ability to watch him 24 hours a day, Lt. Scott Pelletier told the Press Herald in 2012 after Riccis third arrest for public masturbation that year.

Riccis former attorney, J.P. DeGrinney, complained at the time that the state was not doing enough to treat his client and that sending him to prison would fail to address his underlying issues.

In September 2015, Ricci himself wrote to the Press Herald shortly before he was scheduled to be released from the Maine Correctional Center and said that he feared he would re-offend because he hadnt received help controlling his sexual urges.

I tried getting sex offender treatment while I was incarcerated, but the administration wouldnt allow me to, the letter read. They just didnt want to deal with me the whole 24 months I was here.

Previous

Next

Follow this link:
Serial offender arrested in Portland on indecent conduct charge - Press Herald