PORT ANGELES — A 28-year-old Clallam County man was arrested Tuesday on investigation of first-degree child molestation and first-degree failure to register as a sex offender.
Clallam County sheriff’s detectives arrested Steven S. Wilmeth without incident during a sting operation at a tree farm off Deer Park Road.
Wilmeth also had several outstanding Oklahoma warrants for previous sexual assaults and for failing to comply with Oklahoma’s sex and violent crime offender registry, Clallam County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Lyman Moores said.
Wilmeth was convicted in Oklahoma on two rape charges involving separate women, Moores said.
He had been sentenced to 15 years in prison on one charge and 20 years on the other.
He had been released on supervision and had been hiding out in Clallam County since November, Moores said.
Wilmeth was arrested after a 7-year-old Clallam County girl said that he had sexually molested her.
Moores said Wilmeth, who has not been formally charged, likely will go to court in Clallam County before he is extradited to Oklahoma.
“That will take priority,” Moores said.
An informant tipped off deputies to Wilmeth’s whereabouts and sex offender status. Wilmeth had been living on a trailer at the tree farm.
Armed with a search warrant, sheriff’s detectives entered the tree farm in an undercover vehicle.
“We actually caught him walking down the road with his girlfriend,” Moores said. “We arrested him right there in the roadway.”
The arrest was made at about 5 p.m.
Moores said Wilmeth told investigators he was attempting to flee to Canada.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.