D.A. Won’t Charge Covenant House’s Ritter on Finances

Dist. Atty. Robert Morgenthau today ruled out criminal charges against the Rev. Bruce Ritter, saying an investigation into allegations of financial impropriety against the Covenant House founder had not turned up enough to warrant prosecution.

Ritter, also a target of allegations of sexual improprieties, resigned Tuesday night as director of the network of shelters for runaways he founded in 1968.

Morgenthau said there were some “questionable financial transactions” discovered in the review of expenditures in behalf of Kevin Kite, a former male prostitute who claimed he had sex with Ritter in return for material favors. He declined to be more specific but said the problems uncovered were insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution.