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Valdez man allegedly seduced minor online

By Brielle Schaeffer
Reporter, Valdez Star

Bill Painter, 64, the director of student services at Prince William Sound Community College (PWSCC), was arrested in Valdez a week ago Monday on an outstanding Utah Cache County Sheriff’s warrant for allegedly enticing a minor by electronic means and dealing in harmful material to a minor.

“It’s not in our state and it’s not our case but we’re assisting them on this end,” said Bill Comer, police chief, about the city’s involvement of the Utah case. Comer said the police department presented those charges to the judge in order to get a “fugitive from justice” charge to begin Painter’s extradition process to Utah.

Officers in Valdez have been assisting the Cache County’s Sheriff’s office in this case and have even served a search warrant to seize Painter’s computer, Comer said. At this point it is unclear if the warrant is for Painter’s personal computer or the processor he used while working at PWSCC.

Kristin DeSmith, the assistant vice chancellor for university relations for the University of Alaska Anchorage, declined to comment on Painter’s case. It’s Board of Regents policy not to comment on any personnel matters, she said.

As of Tuesday morning, Painter was still listed on the PWSCC Web site as the director of student services and the housing manager for the dorms.

According to charging documents from Cache County, Painter is being charged with some 20 counts of enticing a minor between Dec. 11, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009, which is a second degree felony. The charges allege Painter “did knowingly use or attempt to use the Internet or text messaging to solicit, seduce, lure or entice a minor or person the defendant believed to be a minor to engage in any sexual activity which is a violation of state criminal law …” The dealing in harmful material to a minor charge, a third degree felony, was believed to have taken place on May 14, 2009.

Bilodeau said these types of cases usually do not take multiple occurrences of said charges, even though there are several counts against Painter within a year’s timeframe, one violation is reason enough to be charged. Painter is charged in Utah because that is where the alleged victim was and where the violation occurred, he said.

The charging documents do not state the purported age or sex of decoy or decoys Painter allegedly communicated with.

According to Bilodeau, the case is still active.

Painter was also a former board member of the Youth Awareness Coalition (YAC). He served as its president for some time before resigning after allegations surfaced against then executive director Jason Floyd concerning financial mismanagement, sexual harassment and discrimination. Marla Jokela, YAC’s current board president, said that as far as she knows Painter was not involved with any youth, never participating or leading any community projects while he served as board president.