Guard pleads guilty to voyeurism

A federal security guard who watched women undress through the lens of a security camera atop the U.S. Courthouse complex in downtown Spokane pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony voyeurism.

Darin Earl Wanless’ agreement with prosecutors called for the 33-year-old to plead guilty to one count of voyeurism for separate incidents last year where he ogled a naked woman in the West 809 condominiums at Main and Lincoln and another woman at the Davenport Hotel.

He was initially charged last August with four counts of voyeurism.

“We’ve got boobies!” Wanless exclaimed while watching one of the women, according to court documents. The charging documents name the women involved, but The Spokesman-Review does not generally identify victims of sex crimes.

Federal investigators who reviewed recordings from the security camera between May 15 and June 11 last year determined that Wanless made inappropriate use of the cameras on 22 other occasions, court documents say. The rooftop cameras, including four on each corner of the post office, are controlled from the adjoining U.S. Courthouse and the images they capture are reviewable.

Department of Homeland Security funds paid for the digital cameras. A senior law enforcement official has previously told the newspaper the cameras are so powerful they can be used to count ice cubes in a tumbler in an adjoining building.

Immediately after another guard reported his conduct, Wanless was fired by Secure Solutions LLC, a private Florida-based company with a contract to provide security guards at the U.S. Courthouse and adjoining post office.

Wanless violated Federal Protective Service policies on the use of surveillance equipment and that’s why he was fired, said Lorie Dankers, Pacific Northwest spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees the federal protective service.

“He’s an example of what you should not do. That’s been underscored since this incident,” Dankers said.

Wanless will be sentenced Aug. 26 by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno. With no prior felonies, his sentencing range calls for zero to 90 days in jail.

On Tuesday, Moreno ordered Wanless to serve three years under community supervision – an exceptionally long time – and pay $500 to a victims’ compensation fund.

The judge said she also intends to read a victim impact statement received by one of the targeted women at Wanless’ sentencing next month.

Wanless must also register as a sex offender for the next decade wherever he’s living, according to Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Kelly A. Fitzgerald.