PORT ANGELES — A Bellingham man accused of driving to Port Angeles to have sex with two teens has been charged with attempted child rape, attempted possession of child pornography and using a fake name.
John Philip Shoosmith, 53, appeared in Clallam County Superior Court last Wednesday and remained held in the Clallam County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail on Tuesday.
He was formally charged with second-degree attempted possession of images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, third-degree attempted rape of a child and first-degree criminal impersonation with sexual motivation.
Arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Court records say that when Shoosmith approached a Port Angeles home Saturday where he was expecting to have sex with a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl, police walked out the front door and arrested him
When he first saw the police exit the front door, he exclaimed “oh [expletive],” and “that’s not cool,” before dropping two six-packs of alcohol and a can of whipped cream, court records say.
Shoosmith first contacted a mother on Fetlife, a social networking website for people interested in fetishism, and asked for topless pictures of her 14-year-old daughter, a request she told investigators should have been a “red flag.”
Court papers say Shoosmith — who had said his last name was Erickson — and the mother first agreed to meet earlier this month in Port Townsend and Shoosmith asked her to bring her 14-year-old daughter.
Before meeting, Shoosmith said in a text message that he had a fantasy to be with a “barely legal type.” During this meeting, Shoosmith asked the 14-year-old daughter to touch him, according to court papers.
He later told the mother it would never happen again and he told her to delete their conversations, records say. The mother contacted police.
On Friday the mother told police that Shoosmith had asked if her older daughter wanted to be “intimate” with him. On Saturday he asked for permission to have sex with the older daughter, records say.
He asked the mother to delete that message because it “sounds bad.”
Later that morning police obtained a search warrant for a wire and police helped the mother communicate with Shoosmith.
Court records say police did not direct the conversation, but asked her not to respond at certain times.
While on his way from Bellingham, Shoosmith said he wanted to have sex with the younger daughter as well, and agreed to purchase whipped cream and hard cider.
________
Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
