ONEIDA, Tenn. — A 70-year-old man accused of multiple sex crimes against children in New Jersey during the 1980s has finally been captured after investigators caught him living under a fake identity in Tennessee for decades, authorities said.
Richard Ziegler had been living in Oneida and is accused of committing multiple sex acts with two separate victims in the Township of Roxbury, New Jersey between December 1981 and May 1987. According to acting Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll, one victim was between 10 and 12 and the other was between 10 and 15 when the crimes occurred.
Carroll said Ziegler had been living with the victims and assumed responsibility for their care. He later vanished from New Jersey -- eluding prosecution for more than three decades.
Ziegler's whereabouts were finally discovered after the Tennessee Highway Patrol began investigating a suspicious driver's license application submitted to the Scott County Clerk's Office in Huntsville, Tennessee on July 1, 2020.
THP said Ziegler indicated on the application that he did not have, nor ever had, a Tennessee driver's license or permit. However, troopers discovered he did have one under the name of "Allen Richard Richards" for decades. Troopers said Ziegler's old Tennessee license had originally been issued in 1991 and expired in 2014.
During the investigation into the license, THP said it discovered Ziegler was a wanted man. Now, Ziegler is behind bars and awaiting extradition back to New Jersey to face prosecution.
Carroll said Ziegler is charged with aggravated sexual assault, three counts of sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child in New Jersey. In Tennessee, he also faces charges for aggravated perjury and driver license fraud.
New Jersey authorities are still seeking information on the incidents. Anyone with info should call the Morris County Prosecutor's Office at (973) 285-6291 or the Township of Roxbury Police Department at (973) 448-2050.
