NORRISTOWN — A former Norristown Area School District middle school teacher must answer to charges in Montgomery County Court that he had inappropriate contact with a 13-year-old female student, including telling her that he wanted to kiss her and that when he sees her “my heart skips a beat.”
John H. Richards IV, 57, of the 3500 block of Goshen Road, Newtown Square, Delaware County, waived his preliminary hearing on Thursday before District Court Judge Denise Ashe on charges of attempted institutional sexual assault, attempted solicitation for institutional sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor of a sexual nature, corruption of a minor, endangering the welfare of a child and indecent assault of a child in the alleged March 17 interaction with the eighth grade student at Blockson Middle School, 1315 W. Marshall St. in Norristown.
Richards now faces an Aug. 6 formal arraignment hearing on the charges in county court, after which a judge will set his trial date. Richards remains free on $10,000 bail while awaiting trial, with a condition that he have no contact with the victim or other minors.
Assistant District Attorney Bradley Walter Deckel is handling the case. Defense lawyer Andrew Joseph Levin represents Richards…