OC Child Molester Released by Judge Arrested Again

A convicted child molester who was considered by an Orange County Superior Court judge to no longer be a sexually violent predator and released from custody last year was expected to appear in a Pennsylvania courtroom Monday on charges of exposing himself and showing pornography to a teen.

Alan T. Rigby, 68, made headlines in January 1989 when he pled guilty to sex crimes involving 19 children he taught at Corona del Mar’s Harbor Day School and was sentenced to 19 years in prison, Deputy District Attorney Peter Finnerty said. While still incarcerated at a state hospital as a sexually violent predator, Rigby published “It’s Okay We’re Only Sex Offenders,” a 300-page book championing the rights of sex offenders.

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Rigby was a teacher and coach from 1986-87 when he “groomed” many of his victims, Finnerty said.

“He would take his victims on outings and show then pornography as he tried to get them comfortable with his deviant sexual advances,” Finnerty said. “He would also expose himself to his victims and masturbate in front of them in addition to having sex with them.”

Most of Rigby’s victims were male, but some were female, Finnerty said. A Los Angeles Times article written at the time of his trial noted that detectives searching Rigby’s home found a pamphlet by NAMBLA or North American Man/Boy Lovers Association, an advocacy group for pedophiles.

Rigby supervised a judo club in 1974 when he fed booze to kids ages 10 to 13, getting one girl drunk, Finnerty said. Rigby took off his clothes and touched the drunk girl, but denied having sex with her, Finnerty said. He was convicted of “unreasonable noise” in New York, the prosecutor said.

In March of 1979, Rigby fondled a boy he was wrestling with and was charged with “disturbing the peace,” Finnerty said.

Rigby also had anal sex with another 13- to 14-ear-old victim about six times in the 1970s, Finnerty said.

Rigby was first declared a sexually violent predator in 1998, Finnerty said.

Evaluators at a state hospital determined Rigby was no longer a sexually violent predator last year when he completed a sex offender treatment program, Finnerty said.

At a probable cause hearing in June of last year on whether he should continue to be held indefinitely as a sexually violent predator, Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Menninger ordered his release from custody over the objections of prosecutors, Finnerty said.

Rigby ended up in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, where he was accused of “corruption of minors” from June 1 of this year through Sept. 23, according to Pennyslvania state police. The alleged victim is 15 years old, police said.

City News Service