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Scott Ritter, Former U.N. Weapons Inspector, Busted in Teen Sex Sting

(AP)
STROUDSBURG, Pa. (CBS/AP) Scott Ritter, a former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq and a strong George W. Bush critic during the second Gulf War, is now facing child-sex charges after he allegedly sent a web cam video of himself masturbating to an undercover agent.

Photo: Scott Ritter in 2002.

Ritter is charged in Pennsylvania with unlawful sexual contact with a minor for alleged online exchanges with police posing as a 15-year-old girl. The Pocono Record first reported the case Thursday.

Monroe County authorities say they traced the exchange through a cell phone number Ritter provided. Police say Ritter gave them a video of himself masturbating during an Internet chat.

The 48-year-old Ritter has been free on bail since waiving a Dec. 17 preliminary hearing. He has acknowledged facing similar 2001 charges in New York that were dismissed.

Ritter declined to comment Thursday to reporters outside his home in New York State.

He resigned in 1998 after seven years as a UN weapons inspector and was a harsh critic of the war in Iraq.

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