Florida man arranged to pay to have sex with a child during a holiday trip to Chester County, DA says

A Florida man planning to return to the Philadelphia area to celebrate Thanksgiving made arrangements to have sex with a 9-year-old girl in Phoenixville, prosecutors said Tuesday.

James Richards agreed to pay $300 to a person he believed to be the girl’s mother, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. He asked that the girl be taught to perform sex acts, and that she be instructed to tell no one about the planned encounter.

But Richards, 53, was actually communicating with a Chester County detective, and he was charged with attempted rape, trafficking, and criminal solicitation. He remained in custody in lieu of $2 million bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.

Investigators first learned of Richards on Nov. 25, when a Phoenixville woman contacted police and said Richards had told her he had sex with the 10-year-old daughter of a woman he knows in Satellite Beach, Fla., the affidavit said.

The next day, as detectives listened in, the Phoenixville woman called Richards and he again described the rape.

At the direction of detectives, the woman told Richards, who was planning to visit her later that week, that she had a friend would be willing to let him have sex her 9-year-old daughter for money, the affidavit said. Richards asked to be put in contact with the parent, the document said.

A detective, posing as the child’s mother, then texted Richards and set up the meeting, according to the affidavit.

Richards flew in from Florida on Nov. 30 and headed to Phoenixville, where he was taken into custody, the affidavit said. At the time of his arrest, the document said, he was carrying $300, duct tape, personal lubricant and a bag of Skittles to give to the girl. Detectives noted that he had left his wallet and wedding ring inside his car.

Richards is scheduled to appear before a district judge on Dec. 10 for his preliminary hearing.