By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – There will be no trial as to whether former Mossyrock resident Ricky Riffe sexually abused his 9-year-old step-daughter in the mid-1980s.
It was scheduled to start next week, but instead he is expected in court tomorrow to plead guilty to something less than originally charged, as part of a plea deal.
Ricky Riffe
Riffe, 55, was sentenced last year to nearly 103 years in prison, following a lengthy trial and his conviction in the 1985 kidnapping, robbery and shotgun deaths of an elderly Ethel couple, Ed and Minnie Maurin.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer confirmed this afternoon that a change of plea hearing will take place tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in Lewis County Superior Court, but declined to say more.
Riffe’s Seattle-based defense attorney John Crowley confirmed he and prosecutors made a deal.
Riffe was arrested in the summer of 2012 in the Maurin homicides and brought to Lewis County from his home in Alaska. The following February, prosecutors charged him with what was then called statutory rape as well as indecent liberties, saying new information came to light.
He appeared in court briefly a week ago, as lawyers talked about a defense motion to move the child sex abuse trial to another locale, with Crowley contending his client would not face an impartial jury in Lewis County.
Crowley said late this afternoon the plan is Riffe will plead guilty to one count of indecent liberties, an offense that would have a standard sentencing range of around five years in prison. He also declined to say more.
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For background, read:
• “Attorneys dispute statute of limitations rules on surprise child sex charge for Maurin double murder defendant” from Saturday February 23, 2013, here
• “Riffe maintains innocence in face of sentence of more than a century for Maurin murders” from Tuesday December 3, 2013, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter