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Pre-sentence report seeks 10 years for Steven Powell

Posted at 11:18 AM, Jun 14, 2012
and last updated 2012-06-15 09:40:39-04

TACOMA, Washington -- A pre-sentence report filed in Pierce County Superior Court seeks 10 years in prison for Steven Powell convicted of voyeurism involving two neighbor girls.

In the report, obtained by FOX 13, Washington corrections officials recommend the sentence based on "aggravating circumstances of multiple counts of the same crime, the same two victims, the same criminal conduct repititiously, and an extreme high offender score."

The report noted that Steven Powell did not cooperate with investigators, nor did the teenage girls he was convicted of photographing. Corrections officials apparently interviewed Powell's estranged daughter, Jennifer Graves, whom it identifies in the report as "JG." She asked for him to be "sent to jail for a long time, for as long as possible."

The pre-sentence report also took note of the journal entries written by Steven Powell, which detailed his obsession with his daughter-in-law, Susan Cox Powell. The judge at his trial forbade mention of it in court, ruling it was irrelevant to the case at hand involving two neighbor girls.

"Mr. Powell wrote in practically every journal entry something about Susan Powell," corrections officials wrote. "He noted how much he loved her and wanted to be with her and he penned on many different entries that he wished she and her husband Joshua would split up so that Mr. Powell could marry Susan."

"One of the major overtones within the Journal entries was his sexual obsession with Susan," the report said. "This writer lost count of the number of times Mr. Powell wrote about masturbating to pictures of and fantasies about Susan."

Powell allegedly wrote that he believed Susan was falling in love with him, something "JG" disputed.

Susan Cox Powell vanished from her West Valley City home in 2009. The pre-sentence report declares her death a "homicide," citing Pierce County Sheriff's deputies. West Valley City police have only called it a "missing persons" investigation. They have said her husband, Josh Powell, is a "person of interest" in her disappearance.

Police raided Steven Powell's Puyallup, Wash., home searching for evidence connected with Susan's disappearance. That led to Steven Powell's arrest on voyeurism charges. Josh Powell killed himself and their two children, Charlie and Braden, in an explosion and house fire on Feb. 5.

Defense attorneys have asked for Steven Powell to serve a year in prison. They are also seeking to have most of the charges against him dismissed. Prosecutors are seeking 10 years. Powell faces up to 70 years in prison when he is sentenced Friday.

Anne Bremner, the attorney for Susan's family and the two teenage girls, told FOX 13 on Thursday she intended to serve Steven Powell with a lawsuit on behalf of the girls after he is sentenced. She is also threatening to sue West Valley City police on behalf of the Cox family.

View the pre-sentence investigation document: Pre-Sentence - Steven Powell (pdf)