A 48-year-old former Oregon State University employee was sentenced to prison for a series of crimes involving peering into young women’s windows over a seventh-month span.
In some instances, he made vulgar and sexual remarks to the victims, expressing his desire to have sex with them in an “aggressive manner,” a Benton County judge said.
It was not clear whether this happened on-campus or off-campus. Court documents allege a total of 13 victims.
Jerry Daniels appears for sentencing on privacy invasion and other crimes at the Benton County Courthouse on Friday.
Jerry Lewis Daniels, formerly of Philomath, was arrested in 2023 on a secret indictment carrying nearly two-dozen charges that included burglary, invasion of privacy, disorderly conduct, public indecency, private indecency and stalking.
On Friday, Oct. 3, Daniel was convicted on 14 counts, including felony first-degree burglary and misdemeanor charges of first-degree criminal trespass, second-degree invasion of privacy and public indecency.
Judge Joan Demarest sentenced Daniels to 19 months in prison on the burglary conviction. He was sentenced to 120 days on the remaining convictions, consecutive to the prison sentence. Daniels was also ordered to pay more than $5,000 in restitution.
The crimes
At the sentencing hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Amie Matusko said in a period between summer of 2021 and January 2022, Daniels prowled student housing looking for open windows to peep at women who were sleeping or in their rooms. Some women were victimized more than once.
“Oftentimes those women described hearing knocks on their windows or pounding on their walls, and that this individual would make sexually graphic statements to them about wanting to see them nude or taking off their clothing or wanting to engage in sex with them,” Matusko said.
Matusko described one incident in which the victim heard Daniels’ voice outside her window, and when she looked outside, she saw him masturbating. The victim had seen and talked to Daniels before, Matusko said, and could even identify the brand of malt liquor he was drinking.
Another victim reported seeing Daniels peeping through her window as she was having sex with her boyfriend. Matusko said Daniels seemed to have a pattern and a routine, sometimes revisiting the same victims, in what resulted in near-daily peeping Tom reports.
After police caught up with Daniels, he moved to Nevada, where he was reportedly convicted of peering or spying through an opening into a dwelling of another and trespass involving University of Nevada, Las Vegas students. Demarest noted Daniels had been attending law school and a pastoral training program.
A spokesperson for Oregon State University did not immediately respond to an inquiry regarding Daniels.
The aftermath
Matusko read statements from two of Daniels’ victims during the hearing.
The first victim said she struggled to sleep for months, waking up to every sound and would “freak out” every time she heard someone walk by her door or windows while living in her apartment.
“I ended up sleeping on my couch with a knife under my pillow in fear of him showing back up at my bedroom window or trying to get in my front door,” she said.
Even after moving to a new apartment, she could not sleep well for months, scared that Daniels might have found her new home.
“As a young female and victim having to work on this fear daily, knowing you might let him out to walk the streets to traumatize others or find me again is frightening,” she said.
In the second statement read by Matusko, the victim said her life was changed forever four years ago when Daniels entered her home.
“I have struggled ever since with night terrors, public and private panic attacks, and a fear and obsession that rob me of daily enjoyment of many things I once loved and took for granted,” she said.
“Corvallis — my once beloved college town where I was supposed to make lifelong memories with friends and family — is instead a place that causes pain and anxiety. There is not a day that goes by where I do not think about the terrifying reality that men like him exist in this world.”
“He has shown time and time again he has no respect for women or sense of guilt for invading their space or taking advantage of their bodies,” she said.
His apology
In court, Daniels apologized for his behavior and said at the time he was struggling with a divorce and retiring from the military, saying he had worked hard on PTSD treatment and other issues.
“To the victims, I’m sorry,” Daniels said. “And to the court, I’m sorry.”
Benton County Judge Joan Demarest presides over the sentencing hearing for Jerry Daniels, a former Oregon State University employee who was convicted of peeping on young women living in student housing.
In a letter to the court, Daniels said he retired from the Army in 2018 with 100% permanent disability after 20 years, and after retirement earned a Master of Divinity in chaplaincy and a doctorate degree in ministry, both from Liberty University.
Daniels took his case to trial in April, but the proceedings were cut short when he chose to enter a plea agreement on the charges for which he was convicted. Sentencing was set over as Daniels sought a psychosexual evaluation to support an optional sentence of probation, Matusko said.
Although Daniels was eligible for probation on the burglary charge to avoid prison, the judge passed, saying the decision was not made lightly. She said Daniels had minimized his responsibility and focused more on the impact to himself than the victims.
“The court places a lot of value in rehabilitation; the court also places a lot of value in accountability,” Demarest said. “If he gets a slap on the hand and an invitation to do treatment and not full accountability, what’s that going to say to other predators in our community?”
Daniels was previously convicted of DUI, driving while suspended or revoked and other driving-related offenses.
© 2025 Albany Democrat-Herald, Ore.. Visit www.democratherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
