GREENSBORO, N.C. — A man who cared for children in a group home is now facing charges of sexually assaulting one of them and more victims are coming forward, the Guilford County District Attorney's Office says.
51-year-old Richard Vernell Heath appeared in court Wednesday afternoon to face additional charges of first-degree sexual offense with a child.The alleged assaults happened in the 1980s, the victim told investigators.
This would be the third victim authorities have added to the case. Detectives also said a possible fourth victim contacted them alleging Heath assaulted her during at a church during a church-related event in Alamance County. Those allegations have been forwarded to Alamance County to look into as further investigations into other tips and calls authorities have received since news broke of Heath's arrest for incidents at a group home.
Heath was first arrested, on September 10, on warrants issued by a detective with the Guilford County Sheriff's Office. In that case he faces two counts of Indecent Liberties with a Child and one count of Statutory Sex Offense. The charges stem from an investigation into two incidents related to the alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old male resident at a now-closed group home.
Documents obtained from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) revealed Heath worked at the Center of Progressive Strides, Inc. (C.O.P.S), a group home state authorities say was co-owned by a Greensboro deputy police chief, James E. Hinson Jr. They also showed that the alleged incidents of sexual assault took place on May 17 and May 19.
Heath appeared in a Guilford County court Wednesday, September 11 to hear the charges leveled against him. Prosecutors also revealed sordid details about the allegations made against Heath.
The original allegations that launched the investigation into Heath are detailed in DHHS's 53-page report which was released on July 31. The report includes another incident that’s under review.
The report reveals that the victim is a 15-year-old boy who lived in the group home. The teen reported that while in a car, Heath solicited for oral sex and inappropriately touched him on May 17. Then two days later, on May 19 at the group home, he said Heath allegedly pulled his pants down, put his genitalia in the victim's mouth and forced him to perform oral sex. Both incidents they said happened while other employees at C.O.P.S were away and or Heath was alone with the residents.
Prosecutors said the boy reported the incidents to his mother and uncle immediately and they, in turn, alerted the group home's management. The prosecutor said the management, however, did not inform the appropriate authorities until May 28th and not before an anonymous tipster had already notified Child Protective Services and DHHS of the matter.
According to the prosecutor, a Greensboro Police detective began investigating the case, but in June made DHHS aware upon discovering there was a conflict of interest because of the ownership of the group home.
The group home licensees, according to DHHS, included James E. Hinson, a deputy police chief with the Greensboro Police Department and Kevin Chandler, a former police sergeant with the department.
Prosecutors said the case was then handed over to the Guilford County Sheriff's Office and Davidson County's CPS was also invited to investigate due to more conflicts discovered with Guilford County's CPS.
According to prosecutors, the victim was interviewed several times by the investigating deputy from the sheriff's office and CPS staff and was consistent with his allegations in the complaints against Heath.
They also said another minor resident at the house who was interviewed said he witnessed some of the inappropriate acts and also made other allegations against Heath which are still under investigation.
Heath has had several prior infractions with the law dating back to 1988 including, but not limited to, traffic incidents, disorderly conduct, misdemeanor breaking and entering, larceny and a 2012 stalking charge which prosecutors said was later dropped in November 2018. In that case, they said Heath was threatening a relative of someone who had alleged molestation by Heath.
Prosecutors also revealed to the judge that the DA was also reviewing an incident linked to Heath involving a 10-year-old in the bathroom of a public library.
Prosecutors said according to police, in September of 2017, the boy was getting tutoring lessons at the public library with his father and sibling when he excused himself to go to the bathroom. He said a 'homeless man' had followed him into the restroom, grabbed him in the groin and began masturbating on him. The child ran out of the bathroom and reported what had happened and the police were called, but the suspect had left the area by the time an adult went looking for him. Investigators say the person had gotten on a public transit bus.
Prosecutors said police investigated and looked at surveillance video from the library and the bus and it showed images of a person that fit the description the boy gave, whom they tracked to the radio station of NC A&T State University.
Detectives connected Heath to the boy's narrative based on a photo on the website of the radio station. They said the person whom they matched as Heath was coincidentally wearing the same shirt seen on the image in the surveillance footage from the library.
The prosecutor said the victim kept referring to something inappropriate that happened to him in the library and was too embarrassed and emotional to discuss it and was thus referred to counseling services. She added that the District Attorney's office planned to revisit the matter.
Heath told the court that he 'pulled himself up,’ was not homeless and he was back in 'school' as a full-time student and pursuing a master’s degree in clinical social work to focus on substance abuse for adults. He did not state from which school he was pursuing the degree.
At the end of the 20-minute long hearing, the judge raised Heath's bond from $35,000 to $75,000 and ordered no contact with any of the minors or prosecuting witnesses in the case and no unsupervised contact with any other minor. His next court date is October 10.
According to a spokesperson for NC A&T, despite the information alluded to in court, there was no record of a Richard Vernell Heath enrolled as a student at the school. The spokesperson, however, confirmed that Mr. Heath was a volunteer announcer at the school's radio station and is no longer serving in that capacity. The duration of his volunteer service was not available.
Meanwhile, DHHS ordered the group home to suspend further admission of minors and was fined $4,000 for failing to protect the residents from harm, abuse, neglect or exploitation.
The property owner at the last known address for the group home said the group home closed months ago and the property is not associated with it or the operators.
Both Hinson and Chandler were unavailable for comments or to respond to further inquiry into the matter.
