PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh foster parent has been arrested on child sexual abuse charges dating back to 2023.
Richard Brown, 61, is charged with endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors, two felony counts of unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault, harassment and dissemination to minors.
Brown was taken to the Allegheny County Jail.
Pittsburgh Police said that Brown has been a foster parent in the Pittsburgh area since the early 2000s through various agencies, and authorities said they have reason to believe he may have abused other children in his care.
Laurie MacDonald is the President/CEO at the Center for Victims on Pittsburgh’s South Side.
She says all of their resources are free and open to the public. This includes counseling, trauma-informed education and a 24-hour crisis hotline.
MacDonald said, in this case, the victim should be applauded for coming forward.
“He or she is a real hero, because I took more people need to understand, you can come forward, and there is help here,” MacDonald said. “We can help you put these things behind you and hopefully put this guy behind bars.”
MacDonald said police also did everything right following a CYS report and getting the word out that there might be additional victims.
“I give the police big kudos for that,” MacDonald added. “That’s what needs to be done, police need to say there is help here, just call us. Call the police, call 911.”
If you need to reach out to the Center for Victims, you can call: 1-866-644-2882.
If you have information about Brown, you can call the Pittsburgh Police Special Victims Unit at 412-323-7141 or 911.
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