Youth pastor filmed friend’s sons showering, police say

After initial denials, the suspect turned himself in to Mountlake Terrace police.

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — A King County youth pastor turned himself in after allegedly videotaping a family friend’s two sons while they were showering in his Mountlake Terrace home, according to police records filed in court.

The father said the man, who is 25 years old, was a longtime, trusted friend of the family.

On Sept. 8, the suspect allegedly went into the bathroom and opened the shower curtain while one of the sons was showering.

The son reportedly said he felt uncomfortable because the suspect was looking at him, according to the police report. The son said he couldn’t tell whether the suspect was videotaping him, though, saying he could only see one hand.

The next morning, the other son took a shower and kept the door unlocked at the suspect’s insistence, according to the report. The suspect supposedly burned himself while cooking breakfast and came into the bathroom to show the son the injury.

That’s when the son reportedly noticed the suspect was holding up a phone and filming him. Documents didn’t indicate the ages of the sons.

When the son confronted the suspect about it, the suspect left, according to the police report.

The first son also reported that, in the past couple of months, the man would try to cuddle while they watched television on the couch. A couple of times, the suspect would allegedly lay down and rest his head on the son’s lap. The son said the experience was “weird,” according to the police report.

On another occasion, while the son was helping the suspect move, the suspect allegedly told him he had a “nice tail.”

The two sons related their experiences to their parents, who confronted the suspect.

At first, the suspect denied wrongdoing and let the father look through his phone, according to the police report. When the father went into the deleted section and saw a video, the suspect took the phone back and deleted the video, claiming it was a video of him masturbating and that he was going to send it to someone he met while at work.

Eventually, after several more conversations, the suspect allegedly admitted to videotaping the two sons a total of three times. Once in his apartment and then twice at their south Snohomish County home.

The suspect also allegedly admitted that the video he deleted on his phone was of one of the sons showering.

He allegedly said he touched one son’s genitals through his clothes.

He reportedly told the father that he may have videos on his phone and laptop, and that he might have child pornography on his computer.

The suspect later called the Mountlake Terrace Police Department saying he wanted to turn himself in. He was booked into Snohomish County Jail under investigation of felony voyeurism.

Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.

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