CDA Man Charged With Assaulting Nine Girls

COEUR D’ALENE — A Coeur d’Alene man accused of molesting several young neighborhood girls is now facing a number of new charges after seven more victims came forward and claimed he assaulted them.

Robert Critchfield, 33, now faces nine separate charges, one for each sexual assault victim, all of whom are under the age of 15.

“Hearing the things she was telling me in detail, just made my heart sink,” the father of one of the victims said Monday.

Critchfield allegedly sexually assaulted one North Idaho couple’s daughter several times inside his home. Police reports show Critchfield would masturbate in front of their daughter and other young girls. Court papers also accuse him of inappropriately touching the girls and making them watch pornographic movies.

“She was describing to us, for example, to watch a pornographic movie and our daughter had never heard that word and she didn’t know what it was. So she had to describe to us in detail what was going on in that movie, and how graphic it was,” the victim’s mother said.

Police arrested Critchfield in June and originally charged him with just two crimes. However seven more victims whose ages range from nine to 15 have come forward since his arrest. He now faces nine charges of sexual abuse and lewd conduct with a minor.           

The family of this one victim thought they had done everything right, even checking the registered sex offender web site to see who is living in their neighborhood.

“There is no face to a sexual predator and of course the last thing you expect is somebody who has a beautiful, intelligent wife. And two beautiful and intelligent children,” the victim’s mother said.

Critchfield had no serious criminal history with only a few misdemeanors on his record prior to his arrest in June.

He remains in jail with his next court appearance scheduled for Tuesday, though it is expected that hearing will be continued to a later date.