Foot-fetish bandit held for trial

A West Philadelphia man who became known as the "foot-fetish bandit" after a string of gunpoint robberies and sexual assaults was held for trial yesterday after a preliminary hearing.

Richard Casey, 49, was linked - in some cases by DNA evidence - to seven incidents between November 2006 and January 2007.

Six assault victims, women between the ages of 21 and 55 at the time of the attacks, testified against him.

The testimonies included similar descriptions of an armed assailant who, before robbing and sexually assaulting the women, would order them to remove their shoes so he could suck their toes and fondle their feet.

After ordering him held for trial, Municipal Judge Patrick F. Dugan raised Casey's bail to $600,000 for five of the attacks and $1 million for the most violent incident, setting the total bail at $4 million.

The youngest of the victims testified that her assailant held her at gunpoint in a park near 17th and Federal streets about 5 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2006. After robbing her, he ordered her to remove all of her clothing and proceeded to sexually assault her and then suck on her feet, she said.

"I just feel like I was violated completely as a female," she said during her testimony. "This is not a joke."

Another victim, who was accosted in a park near 27th and Lombard streets between 6 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. on Nov. 23, 2006, testified that she also had been held at gunpoint and sexually assaulted before her attacker made her remove her socks and shoes so he could suck her toes.

She said he put the gun to her head and threatened to kill her if she called the police.

The four other women all testified that they too had been held at gunpoint and robbed, and that their attacker had sucked or fondled their feet, or both, during the attacks.

Two of the women identified Casey as their attacker in court, and two others said he resembled their attacker.

The case of a seventh victim, allegedly attacked under the Walnut Street bridge, was dropped when the victim failed to show up in court. A police officer who took her to the Special Victims Unit testified on her behalf.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Stackow, one of the prosecutors in the case, said there is DNA evidence linking Casey to at least one of the incidents.

Casey was held for trial on six counts of indecent assault, six counts of simple assault, two counts of aggravated indecent assault, six counts of robbery and related charges. He is scheduled to appear in court again Dec. 12.

Francis Carmen, of the Philadelphia Defender's Association, is Casey's public defender. He could not be reached for comment yesterday afternoon.

"As far as the [preliminary hearing] goes, I think the judge made the right decision in all cases," Stackow said later. "I'm pleased he saw fit to raise the bail." *