The father-in-law of missing West Valley City mother Susan Cox Powell was arrested late Thursday on criminal charges accusing him of secretly photographing and videotaping young girls and women -- including Susan, police said.
Steven Powell, 61, was booked into the Pierce County Jail, saying nothing to reporters. He was charged by Pierce Co. prosecutors with 14 counts of voyeurism and one count of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the second degree.
Powell will be at the Pierce County courthouse in Tacoma, Wash. at 1:30 p.m. PT for his arraignment hearing. He was arrested in the aftermath of a search warrant served on his home Aug. 25 in connection with the disappearance of Susan. Among the items seized by both West Valley City police and Pierce Co. Sheriff's deputies were photographs and videos, police said.
"West Valley Police personnel reviewed videotapes and compact discs and found thousands of images of females being videotaped without their knowledge, including Susan Powell. The photographer focuses on the women's buttocks, breasts, and genital areas. Many images were of minor females," prosecutors said in a statement to FOX 13.
The images of Susan Powell appeared to have been recorded without her consent, Pierce Co. Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told FOX 13's sister station Q13 in Seattle.
"They were secretly taken and inappropriate," he said.
Prosecutors said videos were found on discs labeled "Taking bath-1," "Taking bath-2," and "Open window in back house."
"In these subfolders there are images of two girls who were as young as eight and ten-years-old at the time of the recording. The girls are unclothed and taking a bath, using the toilet, and getting dressed or undressed. In many of the images the photographer zooms in on the girls' breasts, buttocks, and genital areas," prosecutors said.
Troyer told Q13 they had been in contact with many of the other alleged victims.
On September 17, Pierce County Sheriff’s detectives obtained a search warrant to further investigate the Powell residence for the possible crimes of voyeurism or child pornography, Q13 reported. West Valley City police were in Puyallup when Steven Powell was arrested.
Police say they are confident all of the pictures were taken by Steven Powell. Q13 Fox Reporter Angela King reported that several of the pictures were taken at angles specifically related to Steven's bedroom.
Susan Cox Powell's friend Kiirsi Hellewell told Fox 13's Good Day Utah Friday that the Powell children are now in protective custody.
"I was so happy to hear about that," Hellewell said. "Neighbors witnessed the police taking the boys away and Susan's father Chuck Cox told me that they're in protective custody. And I'm so glad because knowing the kind of person that Steve Powell is and now with all this new information coming out, we have been so worried about the boys and we know that they were in the last place on earth that Susan ever wanted them to be."
Susan Cox Powell was last seen on Dec. 6, 2009. Her husband, Josh Powell, has been called the only "person of interest" by West Valley City Police investigating her disappearance. West Valley City Police detectives refer to Josh Powell as "uncooperative" in their investigation.
Josh Powell moved from West Valley City to Washington State with the couple's two boys a few months after Susan disappeared. He is currently living in his father's home in Puyallup.
West Valley City police have been carrying out an extensive search in Utah's West Desert for any sign of Susan Cox Powell. Recently, Susan's father filed a lawsuit seeking to halt Steven and Josh Powell from publishing her teenage diaries. They claim she left the family and that the diaries bolster their allegations that she was both promiscuous and suicidal.
Most recently, Steven Powell also hinted that he had a flirtatious relationship with Susan. It is a claim her family and friends adamantly deny. Asked Thursday night if Steven Powell would be called a "person of interest" in his daughter-in-law's disappearance, Troyer told Q13: "That's going to be up to West Valley City."
