Jasper deputies arrest sex offender trolling for victims

For the past week or more, residents of Jasper County had noticed advertisements posted at various places throughout the county offering babysitting services for $12 per weekend — but the ads solicited the babysitting services for “Females only” and requested their ages be “11 months thru 9 years".

The ads also caught the attention of investigators with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department, who discovered the man posting the bulletins across the county was Thomas Louis Van-Hook, a convicted sex offender, who has victimized, at least, three female children in the past. But because Van-Hoot was off parole, had completed his sentencing requirements and had no stipulations to stay away from children, law enforcement officials were having a difficult time trying to find a way to charge him with a crime.

“We know where he is and we are waiting on a judge to sign the warrant,” Scott Duncan, a Jasper County Sheriff’s Department investigator told The Examiner on Friday.

The Examiner was told by a law enforcement source on Friday that a 2-year-old child may be Van-Hook’s latest victim.

“From what I was told they began investigating this after a little girl was left with him,” said The Examiner’s source. “Because she is so young she can’t make an outcry and unless he injured her the exam isn’t going to reveal anything.

“He is out there actively trolling for fresh victims. And because he has served his time, I am not sure what we can do about it until he victimizes another child. This guy is a sick bastard.”

The Examiner also obtained a copy of a letter that Van-Hook wrote in 2004 to the Procter & Gamble Company, the makers of Pampers Diapers, where he requested that the company do more to show the genital areas of children. The head of corporate security for Procter & Gamble sent the letter to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department.