In separate cases, three people were arraigned Monday in Bryan County Superior Court on charges of child molestation.
All three, Tyrone Blige, Steven Pizzino Jr. and Nathaniel Holland, pleaded not guilty. Jury trials are pending for each with a court date not yet set.
Blige, a 22-year-old who lives on Belfast Keller Road, was arrested on Jan. 23 for an incident that allegedly occurred on Dec. 1, 2006. He remains in Bryan County Jail on charges of burglary and child molestation.
According to the incident report, BCSO Deputy John Breen responded to a residence on Hwy. 144, near Belfast-Keller Road. Upon arrival he spoke with the mother of the victim. She said Blige, a cousin, forced his way into the residence while she was not at home and inappropriately touched her 9-year-old duaghter. The woman said her eldest daughter was babysitting her other children at the time.
In a BCSO incident report filed the next day, the mother and a group of other females confronted Blige on Blige Road in Richmond Hill and assaulted him. Blige stated he did not want to press charges.
Pizzino, 16, is being charged as an adult after he was arrested following an incident that allegedly occurred on Feb. 13, 2006 while he was babysitting at a residence near Harris Trail Road. He is currently out on bond.
According to the incident report, the father of the 7-year-old victim contacted RHPD investigator Sgt. Dana Strickland on Aug. 18, 2006.
That led to Pizzino's arrest on Aug. 23, 2006 on two counts of aggravated child molestation.
Holland faces charges of trying to undress a 7-year-old girl after his ex-wife called police over an incident at the Econolodge on Hwy. 17. The Thomasville man and his family had stopped in Richmond Hill on their way home from vacation and were in a room at the motel when the incident allegedly took place, according to RHPD reports.
There are at least three other child molestation cases lingering in the Bryan County legal system. The case against Richmond Hill resident Donald Hillis, 66, has not been indicted as of this time. Hillis is accused of inappropriately touching a minor in the Mulberry subdivision. Also, the case against Ellabell resident Jimmy Littleton, 64, has been continued until March. Littleton is accused of inappropriately touching a 9-year-old girl in the Homestead Drive area.
Another man, Kevin Thompson, 18, was arrested on child molestation charges in Richmond Hill on Nov. 7 and bonded out on $7,500 after a bond reduction hearing on Monday. Reports indicate that charges stem from a consensual act with a 14-year-old minor.