Sex offender arrested while working at Pacific County Fair
Aug 23, 2012, 5:56 PM | Updated: 7:13 pm
A Level II sex offender was arrested while working at the Pacific County Fair.
Pacific County Sheriff Scott Johnson said his department received a tip from the Department of Corrections that a known sex offender, 51-year-old Philip Curtis Shelly, from the Port Angeles area, had joined the carnival.
Not only was he in violation of parole for leaving Clallum County, officers believe he may have been in contact with minor children while working the carnival’s “mirror booth.”
“We know in Clallum County he had been placed in a position to put himself in contact with small children, being able to lift them up onto the counter top if they were to small to do the activity that he was monitoring.”
Shelley was convicted of the rape of a 4-year-old child in 1998, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
The sheriff’s office doesn’t believe the carnival company knew Shelley was a sex offender. “They were extremely cooperative and helped us out,” said Johnson. “[They] were able to identify a photograph of him and assisted us in locating him and taking him into custody.”
