CLEARFIELD – A DuBois man has pleaded guilty to inappropriately touching a 9-year-old girl.
Cletus Alan Ripple, 56, pleaded guilty during sentencing court Monday to one count of indecent assault person less than 13-years-old and was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to nine months to 18 months in the county jail with four years consecutive probation, according to a court employee.
He was ordered to complete the Project Point of Light program and to not have any unsupervised contact with females under 18.
Although he was found not to be a sexually violent predator, he will still have to register with authorities under Megan’s Law for the rest of his life.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the victim reported having been touched by Ripple, who had been providing childcare for her on a regular basis for the last year, after a “safe touch” program at school.
She told investigators that while she was at Ripple’s residence, he had “tickled” her private area more than once. Reportedly, he had done this when they were watching cartoons in his bed.
He also exposed himself to her while they were swimming at his home.
The victim, who appeared visibly upset during her interview, said it made her very uncomfortable and she does not feel safe with him.
When he was interviewed by police in April of 2021, Ripple at first denied touching her, and then later stated it may have happened by accident. However, he did confirm that they watch cartoons in his bed together.
He also admitted that he may have exposed himself to her by accident as he was standing up in the pool.
In a follow-up interview in May of 2021, he confessed that he touched her private area on three separate occasions while babysitting her and related that the victim’s report was accurate, according to the criminal complaint.
Ripple was originally charged with three felony counts of indecent assault-person less than 13-years-old, four felony counts of corruption of minors, misdemeanor indecent exposure and three summary counts of harassment.