Convicted Sex Offender Who Advertised on Craigslist Arrested by Detectives
(PORTLAND) – A known sex offender was arrested by Washington County detectives and charged with having sex with a seventeen year old girl he met through the Internet. 36-year old Douglas Steven French is the same man arrested in Montana in 2004 with a missing 16-year-old Molalla girl.
Detectives are seeking other victims.
On Monday at about 9:00 PM, a Washington County corporal took a phone report from some concerned parents in Ridgefield, Washington who found sexually explicit photographs of their 17-year-old daughter on a computer in their house.
After having a conversation with their daughter, they learned the computer belonged to a man, later identified as French, who lived at a Portland address in unincorporated Washington County.
On the morning of Tuesday, August 15th, Washington County detectives traveled to Ridgefield, Washington to interview the family, including the 17-year-old victim.
They learned that Mr. French had posted an advertisement on the internet site “craigslist.com” for “16 to 19-year-old models”. He posted the listing for models under the name “Premier Modeling”. The 17-year-old victim responded to French’s add.
Over the past month or so, French has been meeting with the victim on a regular basis. During that time, French allegedly provided alcohol and illegal narcotics to the victim. The victim has indicated that she and French had a sexual relationship.
With the help of the victim’s family, detectives were able to lure Mr. French to the Costco parking lot, located at 7855 SW Dartmouth Ave in Tigard. French attempted to flee the area on foot, but he was captured by detectives after a short foot pursuit and was arrested at 10:25 PM.
A preliminary investigation indicates that Mr. French took many sexually explicit photographs of the victim in his apartment located at 12616 SW Barnes Road in Portland.
Detectives have evidence of at least one more unnamed female victim and suspect there are more. If you have had contact with French, please call Detective Gary Wright at 503-846-2593.
French was in the news in August of 2004 after being arrested in Montana with Cynthia Lamb. At the time she was reported missing, Ms. Lamb was 16-years-old.
She had been missing for nine months at the time of French’s arrest. She met Mr. French online and moved to Montana with him. French was arrested on a probation violation and Ms. Lamb was returned to Oregon.
French is being held in the Washington County Jail on the following charges:
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