Ritchhart arraigned on 15 counts including attempted kidnapping charges

POMEROY, Ohio – A woman charged with multiple counts including attempted kidnapping has been arraigned in the Meigs County Common Pleas Court.

April M. Ritchhart, 39, was arraigned on charges stemming from an alleged incident in which she reportedly attempted to kidnap children from an in-home daycare in Middleport, Ohio. Ritchhart reportedly tried to kidnap several children from the daycare. When law enforcement arrived at the scene, she allegedly assaulted at least one officer.

Ritchhart appeared before Judge Scott Powell sitting in for Judge I. Carson Crow on June 21, 2017. Ritchhart was represented by her attorney, Assistant State Public Defender Karen Justice. Meigs County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney represented the state.

Judge Powell set Ritchhart’s bond at $200,000 cash to run concurrent with a bond of the same amount set in another case stemming from an April 12, 2017 incident in Racine, Ohio. In that case Ritchhart is charged with one count of Felonious Assault, a felony of the third degree. Ritchhart has been unable to make the initial bond and has been in jail since the alleged June incident. She returned to jail following the proceedings.

She is charged with 15 counts in the alleged attempted kidnapping case including three felony charges while the rest are misdemeanor charges. Ritchhart is charged with: two counts of Abduction, both felonies of the third degree; one count of Assault of a Peace Officer, a felony of the fourth degree; one count of Criminal Child Enticement, a misdemeanor of the first degree; one count of Making False Alarms, a misdemeanor of the first degree; two counts of Inducing Panic, both misdemeanors of the first degree; one count of Aggravated Menacing, a misdemeanor of the first degree; one count of Falsification, a misdemeanor of the first degree; one count of Criminal Trespass, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree; one count of Unlawful Restraint, a misdemeanor of the third degree; one count of Resisting Arrest, a misdemeanor of the second degree; one count of Obstructing Official Business, a misdemeanor of the second degree; one count of Possession of Drugs, a misdemeanor of the first degree; and one count of Public Indecency, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.

Currently with the attempted kidnapping case, Ritchhart is scheduled for an initial pre-trial on July 17, a final pre-trial on August 7 and a jury trial scheduled for August 31. The other case with the alleged Racine incident is still pending and is scheduled for an initial pre-trial on July 10, a final pre-trial on July 31 and a jury trial scheduled for August 17. Court schedules may change, however.