LYNNWOOD — A man with a lengthy history of sex offenses landed himself back in jail in Snohomish County last month on allegations of indecent exposure at a Lynnwood thrift store.
In December, Jeffrey Cook, 56, was released from custody after serving time for second-degree child molestation. In that case, Cook touched a girl at 99 Ranch Market in Edmonds in 2018. He had also been caught sexually harassing multiple other young girls in public in the couple years prior, according to court documents.
That wasn’t his first run-in with the law.
He twice committed child molestation in Georgia in 1997 and 1998.
In 1998, he was sentenced to five years probation for molesting a teenage girl outside a library, according to court records.
He was caught again in 2017, when he followed a 12-year-old girl in a store in Seattle and made lewd comments about touching her, before quickly exiting the store. He was convicted of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, a misdemeanor. A judge sentenced him to 364 days in jail and two years on probation later that year.
On July 24 this year, Cook was on probation from the 99 Ranch Market case when he walked into the Bella’s Voice Thrift Store at 17633 Highway 99, according to charges filed last month in Snohomish County Superior Court. The conditions of his probation included a sexual deviancy evaluation, not initiating contact with children and wearing an ankle monitor.
At the thrift store, he followed a woman, 23, to the book aisle, according to the charges. She noticed him standing next to her and breathing heavily. She thought he may be having a medical emergency.
However, the woman noticed Cook was touching himself through his pants pocket. She felt “violated and disgusted,” deputy prosecutor Julia Hartnell wrote in the charges.
The woman reportedly told the store manager and filed a report with police. By the time officers arrived, Cook had left.
A week later, Cook returned to Bella’s Voice. The manager recognized him and notified police. Cook’s ankle monitor showed he had been at the store July 24, according to court documents.
Police arrested him that day.
“Less than 8 months after being sentenced for Second Degree Child Molestation in this county, the defendant is yet again violating a member of this community for his sexual gratification,” Hartnell wrote.
Court records list addresses for Cook in North Bend and Mountlake Terrace.
At an Aug. 20 arraignment, Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss maintained the $150,000 bail set after Cook’s arrest. He remained in the Snohomish County Jail this week.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.
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