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Marine Turtle Newsletter 33:12-13, © 1985

Boy Receives Reward for Reporting Violation

Donald Richard "Ritchie" Lewis, of Elon College, North Carolina, received a check for US $2,000 for reporting the illegal killing of a loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, USA. The reward was presented at the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission regular business meeting in Raleigh by US Fish and Wildlife Service Director Robert A. Jantzen. The reward money was provided for by the US Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.

During the night of 3 June 1984, eleven-year-old Ritchie watched a female loggerhead lay her eggs. He went to get his father so he could also witness the egg-laying. As Ritchie returned ahead of his father, he observed three men cutting the turtle's throat. He reported to his father what he had observed and pointed out the men he had seen. As a result of his action, the men were apprehended a short time later and taken into custody.

On 18 September 1984 (after a long investigation by the Atlantic Beach Police Department, the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Attorney's Office), the three defendants pleaded guilty before the US Magistrates Court in New Bern, North Carolina. The combined judgement for the defendants totalled 18 months' suspended jail sentence, $4,500 in fines, 300 hrs of criminal services, 3 yr probation for each of two defendants and 2 yr probation for the third, and restitution for replacement cost to the State of North Carolina of $2,001. (From a Press Release: 25 February 1985, US Fish and Wildlife Service).