Parents tackle pedophile taking pictures of little kids in dressing rooms

OLYMPIA -- Parents jumped into action when a man was caught taking pictures of little kids at stores in Tumwater. Police say that man is a registered sex offender and they’re glad witnesses stopped the convicted rapist.

Police say surveillance photos from the Tumwater Fred Meyer show 54 year-old Randy Russell Smith taking pictures of little kids trying on clothes.

Then a man confronted Smith and tackled him. That man is the father of a 6 year-old girl who caught Smith spying on his daughter.



Eric DeWitt said, "I saw the gentleman on his hands and knees with the phone angled up underneath the stall looking at the phone and trying to look underneath the door.”

On Friday, Smith faced a judge in Thurston County for two counts of voyeurism.  Other parents witnessed Smith acting weird around kids Thursday night in Fred Meyer and Walmart.

Witnesses saw Smith following children around with a cell phone and possibly snapping pictures of them.  One parent says he noticed Smith acting strange near his son in the Walmart restroom.

Jonathon Schiebel said, "When I walked in he was kind of standing over my son. My son had his pants down and then he went to the next urinal.”

Parents in court found out Smith is a convicted felon and registered sex offender. He recently completed a 20 year sentence for raping a 3 year-old girl.

"That's the thing that bothers me the most about this,” DeWitt said. “He did that to somebody 20 years ago now and he has the same freedom and rights as we do where he can roam free and that's just wrong.”

Kendahl Tuttle is a mother of a 6 month old. She witness Smith taking photos in Fred Meyer. "It was absolutely disgusting,” she said. “Now knowing the counts he has against him prior, who knows what he could do.”

Prosecutors asked that bail be set at $250,000 but the judge didn't think that was enough. He doubled it to a half a million dollars.

The man who helped capture this convicted sex offender wants justice for what Smith did to his little girl.

DeWitt said, "I'd like to see him locked up for the rest of his life.”