A police sketch of 29-year-old Jesse K Drugger, suspected in five cases of exposing himself to children throughout Seattle, including one incident in West Seattle.
29-year-old Jesse Kaein Drugger (who has five aliases) is sitting in jail with a $250,000 bail, one charge of second degree child molestation and five charges of indecent exposure hanging over his head.
In court documents, Seattle police allege Drugger was involved in five different cases across Seattle from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3., including a Sept. 29 flashing incident at Whale Tail Park on S.W. Lander St. in West Seattle.
Drugger allegedly wore the same outfit and drove the same car each time he went out to parks or schools in search of young children to expose himself to. He was described time and time again as a pale male in his 20’s with a goatee and light beard, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt with a white logo on the back. The hood was always over his head.
He was always seen driving to the scene of the crime, or fleeing, in a tan colored four door vehicle - eventually defined by police as a gold-colored, four-door 2000 Kia Sephia.
The most serious charge, which includes child molestation in addition to indecent exposure, allegedly occurred at Pinehurst Playground in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle on Oct. 2.
According to probable cause documents, two 13-year-old girls were playing on the swings at Pinehurst when they noticed a man suspiciously walking back and forth along a nearby path. It started raining and one of the girls stopped swinging to gather her belongings. The other girl continued to swing and Drugger allegedly approached them at that point with his genitals exposed, asking the girls if they needed help. As he walked closer he told the girls he would not touch them. He stopped close to the girl still swinging (who told police she was too scared to move) and allegedly transferred a bodily fluid to her coat and then ran away.
It was Sept. 29 when Drugger allegedly exposed himself to an 11-year-old boy and another juvenile (age not given) at Whale Tail Park in West Seattle. According to charging documents, the two boys were walking home when they noticed a male following them. They went inside the boy’s home and watched the male (later identified by the boys in a photo montage as Drugger) pace back and forth for a while, and then leave. When they thought the coast was clear they went back to the park to play and saw the man again, this time with his genitals exposed.
Drugger allegedly exhibited similar behavior in the other three cases, and detectives are investigating two more incidents they believe he may be involved in, according to court documents.
The key to apprehending Drugger for his alleged crimes was the watchful eye of a resident living near Pinehurst Playground who saw the police sketch released by the media, triggering his memory of the suspicious male.
The man noticed a male pull into the parking lot, exit the vehicle, immediately pull the hood of his black sweatshirt over his head and walk into the park. The witness found his behavior odd and decided to jot down his license plate number. Once he saw the sketch, he called police with that information.
The car was registered to a woman living in Kenmore, but Drugger was linked to the vehicle through a driving infraction in 2010. Looking further into Drugger’s history, the detective discovered he had an indecent exposure conviction in 2005.
Police created a photo montage including Drugger and began showing it to the victims who, over and over, identified Drugger as the suspect. With confidence that they had their man, police went to Drugger’s Kenmore home on Oct. 18 and arrested him.
Drugger will be arraigned on charges on Nov. 3 at the King County Courthouse.
To read the Herald’s developing coverage on Drugger, please click here.