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Doucet |
BY KEITH EPPS
Richard John Doucet left his Fredericksburg motel room May 8 planning to get something to eat.
All of his meals since then have been in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
Doucet, 36, a teacher at a prestigious private school in Montreal, is accused of coming to this area to have sexual relations with a 13-year-old Stafford boy he'd met online.
The "boy" was actually Dumfries detective John Chapman, who lured Doucet here while pretending to be an interested young teen.
Four charges against Doucet were sent to a Stafford grand jury following a preliminary hearing yesterday in Stafford Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Another preliminary hearing is scheduled for today in Prince William County, where Doucet faces six more charges.
In Stafford, Doucet is charged with attempting to take indecent liberties with a child, reproducing child pornography and two counts of soliciting a minor for sex.
Chapman and Stafford Detective Darryl Wells regularly go on the Internet in search of child molesters.
Chapman testified that he first made contact with Doucet on Dec. 27 in a Google chat room.
Chapman portrayed a 13-year-old boy named David. Doucet used the screen name Boy1996.
The initial chats were tame compared to the later ones, Chapman testified. The two talked about such things as soccer and family, part of what Chapman described as the "grooming" process.
By April, the chats had become much more graphic. Doucet expressed his sexual fantasies and sent pictures of naked boys to the detective.
Doucet often expressed delight in having cybersex with the boy while his girlfriend was in another room.
"It's not fair. You're naked and I can't be with you," Doucet wrote in one of the chats. " You're the last thing I think about before bed and the first thing I think about in the morning."
Doucet eventually arranged to meet the boy in Fredericksburg on his way back from a teacher's conference in Atlanta.
Chapman said Doucet didn't want to come to Stafford because he was afraid the boy's parents might find out.
After his arrest, Chapman said, Doucet said he and the boy had planned to play Putt-Putt and the loser had to perform a sex act on the winner.
He also wrote a letter of apology to the parents of the "boy" before he was finally informed that the boy didn't exist.
Doucet at the time was an elementary school teacher at the Selwyn House in Canada, a private Catholic school for boys.
His arrest has been big news in Montreal, where the school is well-known and educates the children of a some high-ranking government officials.
Doucet continues to be held here without bond.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com
