Peeping amigo busted

Peeper Sent to Prison for Five Years

Last Update: 1/14 7:15 pm

An illegal immigrant and Peeping Tom who broke into homes in Pacific Beach and sexually assaulted at least one woman during a 10- month period was sentenced Monday to five years and four months in state prison. Judge Michael Smyth also told Eduardo Castillo Herrarte, 33, that he would have to register as a sex offender for life.

Herrarte pleaded guilty last Nov. 1 to one count each of residential burglary and assault with intent to commit rape, and two counts of peeping.

Deputy District Attorney Mark Skeels said the investigation into Castillo started out as a misdemeanor peeping case, but expanded into a residential burglary and sexual assault investigation.

In all, Castillo may have victimized as many as 15 people, the prosecutor told the judge.

A resident who had reported seeing a peeper in Pacific Beach in 2005 came forward again last Feb. 16 with a photographer of the man, believing he resembled the new suspect sketch she'd seen on the news, police said.

The woman said she'd seen the same stranger in the area about two months before coming forward.

Detectives said Castillo had been interrogated two years earlier but was released for lack of evidence.

Police then got in touch with immigration officials, who assisted by detaining Castillo -- who has been deported at least twice -- and taking a photograph of him for identification in the sex-crimes cases, police said.

Following his arrest last Feb. 22, the Guatemala native, a landscaper who had worked in Pacific Beach for years, made statements that incriminated him in the crimes, police said.

Related Reports:

Peeping Tom Plea 11/2/07 A suspected peeping tom is now admitting to charges of sexual assault in Pacific Beach. Plus, a former employee of Oprah Winfrey's All-Girls Leadership Academy in South Africa has been arrested on charges of physical and sexual abuse.

Pacific Beach Peeper 2/15/07A peeping tom who has also committed sexual battery is on the loose in Pacific Beach and he's so brazen that most of the attacks have occurred in broad daylight.


Why was this man not kept out of country after he was deported the first time? How do you keep someone registered as a sex offender when they shouldn't even be in this country? Does this mean that the United States has just adopted another pervert? That's the last thing we need.