Kitsap 911 director resigns after arrest in undercover underage sex sting
Jan 31, 2024, 4:26 AM | Updated: Feb 1, 2024, 4:04 am
This photo of Richard Kirton was available on the Kitsap 911 website (kitsap911.org) until his abrupt resignation this week. (Photo courtesy of Kitsap 911)
(Photo courtesy of Kitsap 911)
Richard Kirton, the executive director of Kitsap 911, was arrested Friday and he resigned from his position.
According to court documents, Kirton was using the dating app Grindr and communicating with a person he thought was a 16-year-old boy. It was actually an officer from the Bellevue Police Department working undercover with the Special Operations Group — Human Trafficking Unit.
Further, the documents say Kirton agreed to meet the boy Friday night, even though he was told the boy was only 16. The Grindr profile stated the boy Kirton was communicating with met the minimum age requirement of 18.
“That works for me,” Kirton said. He then agreed to pay the boy $100.
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After the online conversation ended, Kirton showed up at a hotel in Woodinville and was arrested.
“These types of operations are happening all the time and they’re happening all the time because this kind of behavior among the general public happens a lot,” Casey McNerthney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) said.
Aftermath of the arrest
When word of Kirton’s arrest broke over the weekend, he was placed on administrative leave and he, subsequently, resigned from his position.
“In his resignation letter, he acknowledges generally he has to give a two weeks’ notice for a resignation, but he felt that would negatively impact the organization, so he felt he needed to resign right now,” Kitsap 911 Chairman David Wellington said.
Kitsap 911 confirmed Kirton’s resignation in a short press release Tuesday. The organization stated that Deputy Director Maria K. Jameson-Owens was appointed acting executive director pending a permanent replacement. (A PDF of the release can be viewed here.)
Kirton had been the executive director of Kitsap 911 for about 15 years before his resignation.
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On Wednesday, the KCPAO officially charged Kirton with attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor and communication with a minor for immoral purposes. Kirton will be arraigned on Feb. 14, McNerthney confirmed to KIRO Newsradio.
Contributing: Steve Coogan, MyNorthwest
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