Wednesday, November 19, 2025

One of three people charged with child neglect last summer sentenced

From The Journal Times.com:

Milana Doné 


RACINE — An Oshkosh man was sentenced to 18 months in prison Tuesday in connection to three young boys being found naked outside a motel room in June 2024.

Jarrel Gordon, 26, was charged with three counts of neglecting a child. The charges recognize that the children were younger than 6 and not specifically harmed.

He pleaded guilty to one count, and also was ordered to serve two years of extended supervision. 

The remaining two counts were dismissed but read into the court record.

Allegations

Gordon, the father of the three children, was charged alongside the children's mother, 26-year-old Kayla Ritchie, and their uncle, 24-year-old Dalton Ritchie.

When Mount Pleasant police arrived at the motel on June 10, 2024, the children, two 5-year-olds and a 3-year-old, reportedly were naked and playing outside one of the rooms.

According to a criminal complaint, police had responded to the same location for similar complaints three times prior.

The first officer who arrived reported seeing several puddles of liquid, assumed to be urine, draining from just outside the motel room onto the pavement of the parking lot.

Police reported that the door to the motel room was half open and that the room was in disarray — with feces, clothing, refuse and dirty diapers strewn around the room.

Officers also reportedly found and seized a marijuana pipe.

Dalton Ritchie was reportedly sleeping on a soiled mattress in the back of the room. Shortly after the police woke Dalton Ritchie, who reportedly confirmed that he was temporarily responsible for the children, Gordon arrived.

According to a police report, Gordon said he knew the latch on the door was broken and that the two oldest children were able to open the door.

Kayla Ritchie arrived later and reportedly told police that the family moved into the room a month prior. She also reportedly said that she had been absent since the previous Friday because of her job.

According to the criminal complaint, all three individuals knew the children could open the door and leave the room.

On June 16 of this year, Kayla Ritchie was found guilty of one count of neglecting a child. Two identical counts were dismissed but read into the court record. Her sentence was withheld and she was placed on one year of probation.

Dalton Ritchie's three counts of neglecting a child were dismissed without prejudice Jan. 27 of this year.

From: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/article_f2512567-341c-4adf-bf2a-fbf9d4688644.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

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