Man makes startling discovery in break-in

Dayton Daily News ^ | 10/28/03 | Nancy Bowman

[arjay]

TROY | A 20-year-old man burglarizing an apartment pried open a tackle box and found nude photos of young girls, including his little sister.

The man turned himself and the pictures into police, who later arrested the apartment's tenant, a registered sex offender now facing a possible life sentence after being charged with rape of a child under the age of 13 and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.

Police said the rape charge against Richard Yearsley, 51, involved sexual touching in March of a child who was just under 4.

The 20-year-old man told police he watched Yearsley, whom he knew, leave the apartment and broke in once he left. Police said he then became enraged when he saw his 4-year-old sister's picture among "numerous" Polaroid photos of nude or partially nude young girls inside the tackle box.

He showed some of the photos to the building maintenance man, who convinced him to go to the police.

Police then searched the apartment late Friday and found photos of other young children in various states of dress.

The man said he knew what he had done was wrong, but "he knew that Yearsley was involved in something much worse and had to be stopped," according to the police report.

Police said that Yearsley admitted to taking photos of four other children during the past couple of years, and sexually touching some of them.

Wayne Willcox, deputy Piqua police chief, said the 20-year-old's case was referred to the city prosecutor to determine what charges will be filed.

Yearsley was registered as a sexually oriented offender with the Miami County Sheriff's Office following a 1995 conviction in Miami County for felony gross sexual imposition and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.

Bail for Yearsley was set at $150,000 at arraignment Monday in Miami County Municipal Court.

Yearsley's preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday .

The Dayton Daily News is not identifying the 20-year-old man in order to protect the identity of his sister.

[ridesthemiles]

Yup- But what do you bet that this appears as a storyline on Law & Order or some such?

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

"I say arrest him and forget to read him his Miranda Rights."

If they do that, the sex sicko's lawyer will SUCCESSFULLY argue that the cops were working with the burglar to conduct a warrentless search. They have to prosecute both of them, or the creep walks.

[frithguild]

The lawyer for the sex offender will probably argue it was a planned break to get evidence against his client by an interested party. It is the same as a warrantless search under the disguise of a break in. The evidence is not admissable.

So that's why we shouldn't have lawyers. Right Tom?

[Oystir]

No, the evidence is legal and is valid against the pervert; the State/government did not conduct a warantless search.

[Cobra Scott]

I think the confession was from the burglar, if I read correctly.

The most suspicious part is the relationship between the burglar and one of the children.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Like sentence him to take a course in criminal law and then join the police force so that he doesn't screw it up when he is an officer?

[Old Professer]

The key to admissability will probably be the fact that Yearsley is a registered sexual offender and has no expectation of privacy.

[ZULU]

So do I.

A .45 caliber slug to the brain does wonders in rehabilitating child molesters.

[CSM]

"Just curious: how did Yearsley get that sort of access to little girls in the first place?"

Exactly my question. I would think that the sex offender's Probation officer would be able to keep better tabs on his activities. Would have contact with neighbors with the children, would have notified the neighborhood, etc.

This sounds like the Police or Probation dept. dropped the ball. Now we have criminals (burglars) investigating other criminals, because the police didn't do their job!

[GovernmentShrinker]

Especially if the perv's fingerprints are all over the pictures . . .

[Little Pig]

I don't see that the burglar actually knew Yearsley was committing crimes. I think he may have known what Yearsley was, and obviously knew WHO he was (this is stated in the article), but to me it looks like he realized, upon finding the pictures, that his target was way worse than anything he might be doing. A similar situation would be breaking into a house to burgalrize it, and finding human body parts, or bombs, and reporting that. Not to mention, the burglar might have seen a way to "erase" some of his past misdeeds by turning in a bigger criminal.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

A burglar with a conscience.

[pgkdan]

Will this case gets dismissed because the EVIDENCE was ILLEGALLY obtained?

It wasn't illegally obtained by the police.

[tx_eggman]

I believe this man can be rehabilitated.

By putting him in a hole and covering him up with dirt

[tx_eggman]

The home owner, not the kid.

[quack]

No,he was just breaking in to steal something.Then he found the pictures,including one of his sister.He stated that he knew that what he had done was wrong(breaking & entering) but that child molestation was a far worse crime(see what murderers and theives do to child molesters in prison) and turning himself in was worth the punishment to get the child molester arrested.

In other words,he was willing to be punished for his crime in order to get this scumbag off the street.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

By the way, for all reading this thread - the "Miami" is Miami in Ohio (Dayton of course being one of the nearby cities in OH).

[Nov3]

At least this thief has some moral code

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

"The key to admissability will probably be the fact that Yearsley is a registered sexual offender and has no expectation of privacy."

Not true. A registered sex offender must register, but his domicile is not public domain, without a warrent.

[Ciexyz]

This is a great story...almost too great. My cynical side is leaning to the suspicion that the breakin was part of a plot to "get" the registered sex offender.

Please give us an update on this as news develops.