SPOKANE, Wash. -- The convicted child molester who was recently accused of inappropriately touching a five-year-old girl at North Town Mall in north Spokane admitted to detectives that "the touching was for the purpose of fulfilling his sexual desire for children."
Richard Payne, 55, pleaded not guilty to two counts of Child Molestation in the first degree and one count of Indecent Exposure in Spokane County Superior Court Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutors allege, that on June 21, Payne went to the arcade inside North Town Mall and approached the little girl while she was on a ride. Court documents state Payne touched the girl on the buttocks and thighs and then exposed himself during the incident.
Documents state, Payne walked away from the little girl and then followed her to another area of the arcade where he repeated his actions once more.
The court documents state that detectives have video surveillance of the entire incident. Documents also stated that Payne confessed to touching the girl because it fulfilled "his sexual desire for children."
It was the 5-year-old's older sister who eventually saw the man and alerted her sister. When the older system identified Payne while walking out of the bathroom, court documents say Payne ran away from the arcade. Police arrested Payne several days later.
At his initial appearance, Payne was released on $250,000 bond. The ruling was very controversial and sparked a public outcry, especially since Payne is a registered sex offender.
On Thursday, Payne's attorney said his client was wearing a GPS home monitoring device.
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