ARLINGTON — A convicted sex offender with a long history of peeping into windows is expected in court Thursday afternoon to answer to new allegations that he spied on a pair of 12-year-old girls for sexual gratification.
Police arrested Tal Vanderpool on Sunday morning after his pickup truck was spotted in an Arlington mobile home park. A girl and her friend reported seeing a man spying on them through the bedroom window.
A neighbor called police after she woke up to find a white pickup truck parked in her driveway. She said she saw a man wearing a T-shirt and shorts run from the trailer space across the street and drove off.
Police were able to track the pickup truck to Vanderpool, 51, and learned that he is a registered sex offender who lives less than five miles from the mobile home park.
Officers went to Vanderpool’s home. He reportedly was watching a pornographic movie in his bedroom. He told police his wife was out of town.
“He admitted that he gets deviant urges and likes to watch females without them knowing that he (is) watching,” prosecutors wrote.
The Arlington man was charged Tuesday with felony voyeurism. He was being held on $100,000 bail.
Vanderpool allegedly declined to answer officers when they asked whether Sunday’s incident was isolated or if he’d been peeping without being caught, according to court papers.
Vanderpool said he was feeling guilty about what he was doing. He told investigators the incident wouldn’t have happened if his wife had been home.
In 2001, Vanderpool was found exposing himself at a Marysville espresso stand.
He was convicted in 2005 of multiple sex crimes, stemming from allegations that he broke into homes in Walla Walla and watched people while he masturbated. He also was accused of looking through windows. He was a suspect in 15 incidents.
Last year Vanderpool was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender. He was accused of peeping on a woman at a home in Manson, Washington He was there helping his brother with a construction project.
The defendant has admitted to having more than 200 victims, saying the behavior started when he was about 14.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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