Greenwood man charged with molesting 8-year-old

A Greenwood man has been arrested and charged with child molesting after police say he touched an 8-year-old girl inappropriately earlier this year.

Richard Marion Huffman, 51, 4175 W. County Line Road, was arrested and charged on Monday for an incident that occurred sometime between April and June.

If convicted, Huffman faces up to 40 years in prison on the Level 1 Felony, which is the highest level felony someone can be charged with, outside of murder.

A deputy with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office responded in September to a home in Greenwood on a child molesting complaint, according to charging documents filed Monday in Johnson County Circuit Court.

The child told police she was lying in bed and Huffman was lying behind her when he touched her inappropriately three times, according to court documents.

The victim also told police the touching only stopped when she pushed his hand away. Huffman later apologized to the girl and told her not to tell anyone that it happened, court documents said.

The child’s mother told police she was talking to her daughter about body safety in September, and the victim told her mother that Huffman had touched her, court documents said.

Police attempted to interview Huffman, but at the time of the initial interview earlier this month, Huffman told police he would not be interviewed without an interpreter, because he is deaf. There was not an interpreter immediately available, court documents said.

Police later contacted him and said an interpreter would be paid for by the sheriff’s office. His lawyer returned the call and said Huffman would not be interviewed, according to court documents.

He was arrested and taken to to the Johnson County jail, where he is held on $40,000 bond.