‘Serial peeping Tom’ arrested again in Rock Hill
A felon called a “serial peeping Tom” by police and a “repeat offender who won’t change” by prosecutors was arrested again Friday for another alleged offense.
The charge: peeping Tom.
Travis Cousar, 35, was released from prison Dec. 30 after serving a two-year sentence for a recent peeping Tom conviction. Friday, detectives charged Cousar with peeping Tom - the real name and law for the offense and charge - with an April 27 incident on Laurel Street in Rock Hill where a terrified woman saw a man peeping through her bedroom window at 1 a.m., according to a police incident report.
The woman confronted the suspect -- now identified as Cousar -- and her son chased the suspect away with a stick. A neighbor also witnessed at least part of the peeping and aftermath, the police report shows.
After a weeks-long investigation, detectives arrested Cousar Friday. He was jailed under a $35,000 bond.
Another peeping incident was reported Thursday in Rock Hill on Rich Street, but no one has been charged in that crime.
In court in April 2016 when Cousar pleaded guilty to peeping Tom charges under what is called an Alford plea -- he accepts punishment but does not admit guilt. Cousar faced a maximum of three years in prison and received two years. But because of time served between arrest and conviction, Cousar was rel;eased from prison at the end of 2016, state officials said Friday.
In court in April 2016, 16th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Jessica Holland described Cousar as a many-time repeat offender who over and over again peeps at women. The victims are terrified, Holland said in court in 2016.
“He has done this repeatedly – he won’t change,” Holland said in court in 2016.
In 2016, Cousar peeped at a woman through her bathroom window as she readied for work with small children in the house. In 2014, he was convicted of peeping at a teenaged girl through a window. He also has other convictions including failure to register as a sex offender and harassment, records show.
Andrew Dys: 803-329-4065, @AndrewDysHerald
This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 4:08 PM with the headline "‘Serial peeping Tom’ arrested again in Rock Hill."