In attempt to find missing Olympia man, police uncover child pornography

A former employee of the Capitol Playhouse in Olympia has been charged with 14 counts of child pornography, but police might not have found the evidence if the accused hadn’t gone missing first.

Troy Fisher, 52, was reported missing on July 23 by his family. Police worked to find Fisher, and said there were reports of angry emails being sent to him from a former employee recently fired by Fisher.

The emails led police to a search of Fisher’s phone and computer. Instead the police found child pornography: a total of 151 images of suspected minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

At about 2 a.m. on July 25, the then-missing Fisher dialed 911 from a payphone.

He was found by paramedics wearing pajamas and no shoes. He was dehydrated, disoriented and was taken to the hospital where he told detectives he couldn’t remember the past 48 hours.

Fisher told police that on the night he went missing, he couldn’t sleep and had walked out to his car to listen to music. He hadn’t wanted to wake his niece and nephew who were staying with him. The next thing he knew, he woke up under a bush two days later.

When Fisher was arrested, he told police there was porn on his computer, but said if there was any child pornography it was unintentional. He admitted to also looking at similar images at the Capitol Playhouse, his former employer, where he frequently worked with children. A search of two computers there led police to three more images later determined to be minors.

According to the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office, the images for which the defendant was charged, depict a dozen girls and boys, ages 10 to 14 engaged in sexual acts with adult men and each other.

Due to a conflict, the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office requested the case be handled by the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office.