Susan Powell's father-in-law arrested on child porn, voyeurism charges

(CBS/KIRO) TACOMA, Wash. - Police have arrested the father-in-law of missing Utah woman Susan Powell after officers found images of girls and women at his Washington home, the sheriff's and prosecutor's offices said.

Pictures: Missing Utah mother Susan Powell

Steven Powell, 61, is charged with 14 counts of voyeurism and one count of second-degree possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist told CBS affiliate KIRO.

Pierce County detectives found the images after a search last month in connection with the missing Utah mother's disappearance. Computers, digital media, recordings and photographs were seized at Steven Powell's home in Puyallup, the Prosecutor's Office said.

In a news release issued Thursday night, Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said West Valley police found thousands of images of girls and women that were taken without their knowledge. Some of the girls were as young as 8 and 10-years-old at the time the recordings were made.

Lindquist said evidence shows some photos were taken from Steven Powell's home in Puyallup.

"He's creepy and I think this kind of proves that," Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told KIRO. "Something is up there, obviously we're continuing to work the case and as we find these things, it's disturbing."

The charges, both Class C felonies, carry a standard sentence of up to five years in prison, Lindquist said. Steven Powell is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at the Pierce County Courthouse.

Susan Powell was 28 when she was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009, after she failed to show up for her stockbroker job. The case has cast a harsh spotlight on Powell's husband, Josh, who remains the only person of interest but has never been arrested or charged. Josh Powell denies killing his wife or having anything to do with her disappearance.

Complete coverage of the Susan Powell case on Crimesider