Robert Richards IV was convicted of raping his three-year-old daughter after the little girl, then five, told relatives about their “secret”. In 2009, seven years after the incident occurred, Superior Judge Jan Jurden sentenced the heir to the du Pont fortune and spared him jail time, suggesting that he “will not fare well” in prison and ruled that the Delaware man would benefit from treatment.
According to The News Journal, details of the case emerged into public spotlight earlier this month when Tracy Richards, ex-wife of the heir, filed a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for abusing their daughter and son.
After failing a polygraph test, Richards admitted to abusing his daughter and allegedly told investigators, “he was ill and that he needed medical treatment,” the lawsuit said.
Judge Jurden sentenced Richards to an eight years suspended term and stated in her sentencing order that the “defendant will not fare well in Level 5 (prison) setting.”
The lawsuit claims that the 47-year-old Richards, the great grandson of du Pont family patriarch Irenee du Pont, a chemical baron, has allegedly admitted to sexually abusing his son when the boy was 19-months-old. The confession came during another polygraph test in 2010 where Richards said that he “was very concerned something happened with his son, but that he has repressed the memories.”
According to the lawsuit Richards said the abuse was “similar to what happened with his daughter,” and “promised that whatever I did to my son, I will never do it again.” He has never been criminally charged for the act.
Richards lives in his $1.8 million mansion in Greenville. [Photo via The News Journal]
Lawyer Thomas C. Crumplar, who represents Richards’ ex-wife and children, told press today during a news conference that this fresh lawsuit is the first step in getting justice for the children.
“This self-confessed, admitted rapist and child abuser didn’t go to jail, and, in fact, he stays in luxury where he has always been.”
