Newtown Man Charged With Public Lewdness

SOUTHEAST, N.Y. — On the evening of Sunday, September 23, New York State Police arrested a Newtown man, who is a registered sex offender in Connecticut, on a misdemeanor charge of public lewdness in connection with an incident that allegedly occurred in the parking lot of a local shopping plaza.

State police were called to the scene following a report of a suspicious vehicle, according to a state police spokeswoman.

State police arrested Richard E. Crouch, 52, of 2 Papoose Hill Road, Newtown, on the public lewdness charge. Crouch was arraigned on the charge on September 24 in Southeast Town Court, after which a judge set bail at $1,000. Crouch was then transported to the Putnam County Correctional Facility. Crouch is scheduled to appear again in court on October 2.

According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch, Crouch has pleaded not guilty to pending misdemeanor charges of patronizing a prostitute and use of drug paraphernalia in connection with an August 3 incident in Danbury. He is free on a written promise to appear on October 17 in Danbury Superior Court on those charges.

According to Connecticut court records, Crouch was convicted on a charge of public indecency in March 2008 stemming from a November 2007 incident in Weston.

Also, in January 2008, Crouch was convicted on charges of risk of injury to a child and public indecency in connection with a February 2007 incident in Danbury that led to a March 2007 arrest. Crouch received a prison sentence on those charges.

According to the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry, Crouch was released from state custody in February 2011.

 In November 1997, a judge in Danbury Superior Court found Crouch guilty of risk of injury to a minor in connection with a June 1997 incident at Orchard Hill Nature Center in Newtown in which Crouch had exposed himself to three children. The judge gave Crouch probation in that case, ordering him to stay out of the park for five years.