How Could You? Hall of Shame- Richard Batson UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Chattanooga, Tennessee, 43-year-old foster father Richard Batson “who pleaded guilty to the statutory rape of his 16-year-old foster daughter wept Monday as he learned he would not have to go back to jail.”
He “received a sentence of four years of probation from Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern after pleading guilty to statutory rape by an authority figure for a 2010 incident.
Despite the relatively light sentence, Batson’s name will remain indefinitely on a sex offenders list.
Batson’s attorney, Cindy Bice, claimed the relationship with the teenager was consensual and that Batson “was absolutely devastated” in its aftermath. He was 41 at the time, with young daughters of his own, she said.
A friend reported Batson to authorities after a series of texts in which Batson bragged about the sexual relationship, which included a threesome with a 39-year-old female neighbor who was also charged with statutory rape.

Julie Yoder also has pleaded guilty to statutory rape. Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 17 before Stern.
During the sentencing hearing Monday, Batson’s mother, teenage daughter and pastor were among those who defended Batson, who clasped his hands as prosecutor Bill Hall and Bice questioned the witnesses.

“I sense nothing but remorse from him,” said Batson’s pastor, Anthony Baker of Riverside Baptist Church.
Batson has coached softball teams at the church, and Baker said he would be fine with Batson coaching his daughters.
“This man had a threesome with a foster child in his care, and you’d be OK with him coaching your girls in softball?” Hall asked.
In her questions, Bice indicated that Batson was coping with a difficult divorce in 2010 and was regularly intoxicated during the time of the encounters with the teenager.
“I am not making an excuse for my client, my client is not making an excuse for his behavior but, in a divorce situation, people do things that they wouldn’t otherwise do,” Bice said after the hearing. “And that’s why we have mitigating circumstances with regard to criminal charges. The man never had a traffic ticket.”
After the sentencing, Batson wiped his eyes as he and his family slowly filed out of the courtroom, embracing and patting each other on the back. At one point, Batson picked up his 16-year-old daughter and spun her around.
The daughter had testified tearfully Monday about wanting her father at home. She was 14 and living with her mother at the time of the rape.
“I don’t think my father should serve time for something that was agreed upon by two people,” she said on the witness stand. “He already missed out on my first prom and teaching me how to drive.”

Chattanooga foster dad sentenced to probation for rape of teen

[Times Free Press 8/7/12 by Kate Harrison]

2010 Articles
“A 41-year-old Hixson man has been charged with having sex with a 16-year-old girl who was placed in his home for foster care.
A 39-year-old Hixson woman was also charged in the case after authorities said the man, Richard Scott Batson, arranged for a sexual “threesome.”
Batson, of 6817 Love Lane, is charged with statutory rape by an authority figure.
Julie Schwartzkopf Nave (also known as Yoder), of 1398 Meadowood Dr., is charged with aggravated statutory rape.
The sheriff’s office was contacted by a Department of Children’s Services case manager after it was learned that Batson had sent text messages about the incident.
Authorities said a friend of Batson stated that Batson said he had been having sex with the girl “couple times a week.lol.”

In one text, Batson said, “I feel bad but no regrets because it was consensual and —— worth it to me anyway.”
In a controlled phone call with the friend, Batson admitted having sex with the foster child.

The girl told authorities they had sex approximately six times since she was placed in his home.
She said the first time was just after she was placed in the home. She said he started rubbing her back, then molested her told she told him to stop.
The girl told of the “threesome” and said both Batson and “Julie” participated. She said Batson orchestrated it.
She said he provided cigarettes and alcohol to her.
Police said Ms. Nave gave a confession to having sex with the girl.
Batson, a native of Alabama, is unemployed.
Ms. Nave is originally from Iowa.”

Hixson Man Charged With Rape Of Foster Child

[Chattanoogan 11/18/10]

“A year after a state-approved foster care provider trained Richard Batson to supervise troubled children, Chattanooga police charged him with raping his 16-year-old foster daughter several times over four months.
Police also charged a woman who confessed to having three-way sex with the girl.
Tennessee Department of Children’s Services officials learned of suspicious activity Tuesday. A friend of the suspect released text messages in which Batson, 41, bragged about having sex with the girl a “Couple times a week. lol,” according to police records.
He continued, “I feel bad but no regrets because it was consensual,” records show.
Another text message from Batson’s phone states, “That’s right I’m the man. If we find a sexy chick willin [sic] we gonna have a threesome.”
Based on the messages, police on Tuesday instructed the friend to call Batson for more details while they recorded the conversation. Batson answered the call, confirmed he sent the text messages and talked about using a condom with the foster daughter.
When the friend said, “I know you hate that,” Batson replied: “Certain situations require it,” according to police.
The next day, police interviewed the 16-year-old victim, who is not named here in accordance with Chattanooga Times Free Press policy.

She told police Batson had sex with her about six times since state authorities placed her in the home in July, and she discussed another female’s involvement.
Investigators moved on to Julie Yoder, 39, after the victim said a woman named “Julie” performed sex acts on her during an encounter orchestrated by Batson, who described the threesome as “awesome” in another text his friend gave police.
On Wednesday, police arrested Batson and charged him with statutory rape by an authority figure. He remained in jail Friday on a $75,000 bond, county officials said.
Police also arrested Yoder for aggravated statutory rape, but she made a $25,000 bond Thursday morning and was released, jail officials said.
Efforts to reach Yoder were unsuccessful Friday.
Until recently, Batson worked as a registration clerk at T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital at Erlanger. Hospital spokeswoman Pat Charles said he lost his job several days ago, but not because of the statutory rape charges.
Officials at the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services said Batson was hired in 2009 by Omni Visions, a private provider contracted by the state to supervise troubled children. He was “cleared” in 2010 to continue giving foster care, according to Children’s Services spokesman Rob Johnson.
Last July, Batson and his former wife took care of the victim and her two brothers after Omni Visions trained him to supervise “Level 2” children who have “behavioral disorders, not extreme psychiatric conditions,” Johnson said.
But Omni Visions program director Kathy Joyner said some Level 2 children “do have mental health diagnoses.”
Neither official would discuss the 16-year-old girl’s situation in detail, but Joyner said Omni Visions conducted “sexual predator checks” and convened periodic team meetings with the victim present “to talk about anything she wanted.”
“Red flags” never came up even when Batson divorced earlier this year, though Joyner said state authorities “weighed the pros and cons” of moving the girl.
“There’s hundreds of kids in foster care and there’s going to be some mistakes,” Omni Visions President Jim Henry said. “We’ve got to make sure we didn’t miss something.”

Texts lead to statutory rape charge

[Times Free Press 11/20/10 by Chris Caroll]

Affidavit: http://media.timesfreepress.com/docs/2010/11/Affidavit_of_complaint_1120.pdf

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update:“In 2010, incriminating text messages led police to Richard Batson.

According to court documents, Batson bragged to a friend about having sex with his 16-year-old foster daughter and another woman.

Batson pleaded guilty to the charges in 2012, in exchange for a relatively light sentence of four years’ probation. His attorney said at the time that he was undergoing a stressful divorce and drinking at the time of the incident.

Julie Yoder, the woman involved in the sex act with the teenager, pleaded guilty to statutory rape and was sentenced to three years in prison.

At the time of his plea, Batson agreed to register as a sex offender. On May 19, Batson was arrested on charges he violated the sex offender registry.

According to an arrest affidavit, Riverside Baptist Church pastor Anthony Baker’s wife, Vallerie Baker, reported he worked there April 4, the date when the violation is alleged to have occurred.

Police say he violated the rules by failing to report to the registry that he was working at the church.

It’s not clear what Batson did for the church. A call for comment was not returned Wednesday afternoon.

The report states Batson is “currently under investigation for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor child during the course of his employment at the Riverside Baptist Church.”

At Batson’s 2012 sentencing, Anthony Baker spoke on his behalf, saying he sensed “nothing but remorse” from Batson.

Baker said Batson coached softball at the church, and that he would trust Batson to coach his 16-year-old daughter’s team.”

“UPDATE: Pastor Anthony Baker said Richard Batson was paid by the church to mow the lawn each week, along with other odd jobs that needed to be done when church was not in session. Baker said Batson was not in a hired position that put him in contact with youth.”

UPDATE: Man who raped foster daughter worked at Riverside Baptist Church after plea, police say[Times Free Press 6/4/15 by Claire Wiseman]