A 36-year-old registered sex offender who took photos of girls changing in a Peninsula High School restroom before a girl's soccer game was sentenced April 11 to four years in prison.
Adam Nicholas Randolph pleaded guilty March 7 in Pierce County Superior Court to two counts of first-degree voyeurism for the Sept. 12, 2023, incident. According to court records, Randolph admitted to taking photos of two girls, ages 14 and 15, from a stall in the women's bathroom.
He pleaded guilty to an additional voyeurism charge for taking photos or videos of six more people between Jan. 1 and Sept. 12 that year.
Before handing down the punishment, Judge Garold Johnson said nothing could undo the damage Randolph had caused his victims. What can be done, he said, is let the victims know the courts care by sentencing people who commit these kinds of offenses to jail time.
Courts have two choices when dealing with cases like Randolph's, Johnson said. They can either find some way to put Randolph away for the rest of his life or get him the help he needs so he won't do it again.
"You've needed help with this your whole life. You've got to get on top of this," the judge said.
Randolph was previously convicted in 2006 of attempted voyeurism in King County, and he has several convictions in Oregon. In 2018, he was convicted of three counts of voyeurism in Pierce County for recording videos of women in academic-building bathrooms at the University of Puget Sound. Court records show he got three years in prison in that case.
The sentence that was imposed April 11 was in line with prosecutors' and the defense attorney's recommendation. Deputy prosecuting attorney Bryce Nelson explained in court that under the agreed recommendation, Randolph would serve 50 months in prison on counts one and two, but zero time for count three so that the court could impose 60 months of community custody.
No-contact orders were put in place for Randolph's nine victims.
"The state believes that's critical in this case with this defendant because what it allows the Department of Corrections to do while they supervise him is monitor any electronic devices that he has, search his residence, search his phone," Nelson said.
Parents of three victims addressed the court and Randolph during the hearing, telling the defendant how his actions had emotionally scarred their children, many of whom no longer felt safe at school or in public bathrooms. At least one girl transferred as a junior to a new district because she didn't feel comfortable.
"I am disgusted by your actions," said one father, who identified himself only as Mr. Smith.
Randolph, who sat in court in a brown and pink jail uniform, appeared not to make eye contact while the parents spoke.
At least one victim attended the hearing. Her mother spoke on her behalf with her daughter by her side, telling the court that being watched and recorded without her consent was traumatic, and she felt violated by Randolph.
The judge commended the students for the bravery they demonstrated. According to charging documents, the girls Randolph photographed went to the restroom together, and the younger girl noticed a phone appear over the stall to take a picture. She later told Pierce County Sheriff's Department detectives that she and her teammate chased the man as he left the restroom, and the older girl immediately went to her coach to report what had happened.
"But I can tell the damage is going to come," Johnson said. "Whether they knew it when they reported it or not, all of us who have any relationship to children know that the damage probably can't be undone, at some level."
Given the opportunity to address the court, Randolph said he was sorry for the harm he caused and this isn't the life he wants to live.
"There's no magic time machine to go back and change your mistakes," he said. "I can only do better from here. It's all I can do. It's what I have to do. I'm very sorry."
Outside the courtroom, Marylee Smith, the mother of one victim, told news reporters Randolph deserved more time in prison, particularly because of his criminal history, but she felt the court had done the most it could. When she first heard about the sentence the defendant was expected to receive, she said she felt legislative changes were needed.
Smith said her daughter was raised in a God-fearing household, and it was her daughter who asked her to tell Randolph that she forgives him but that he has the rest of his life to make different decisions.
Asked what she thought of Randolph's apology, Smith said she felt he wouldn't be apologizing if he weren't caught. Still, she felt that the parents' words had gotten through to him to some degree. She said she could see the man start to tear up as she spoke to him in court.
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