The Region : Sex Case Against Male Sitter Dropped

Seven child molestation charges against a 20-year-old male baby sitter accused of sexually assaulting youngsters at a Torrance residential motel were dropped by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The decision came five weeks after a jury deadlocked on the charges and found Timothy Paul Ricketts innocent of one count of lewd conduct. Prosecutors based the decision partly on the fact that several witnesses changed their earlier testimony during the trial, said Peter Berman, chief deputy in the district attorney’s Torrance office. Ricketts was arrested in December, 1984, on molestation charges allegedly involving children at the Coco Palms Motel Apartments.