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MONROE, Wa. — The father-in-law of missing West Valley City mother Susan Cox Powell is slated to be released from prison less than a year after he was sentenced.
Steven Powell was sentenced to 30 months in prison for 12 counts of voyeurism and is serving time at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Monroe, Wash. Because of credit for time served and good behavior, he will be released less than a year from the day the sentence was handed down.
According to the Washington State Department of Corrections, Powell will be released from custody on May 23.
- 135 days for good behavior while in jail
- 169 days because his offenses were non-violent
- 271 days of credit for time served prior to his conviction and sentence
Powell was arrested in September 2011 after a search of his home turned up photos of young girls in his neighborhood bathing and using the bathroom, taken without their knowledge. Prosecutors successfully argued that the photos were taken for Powell's sexual gratification.
Detectives found the photos while searching for evidence in the ongoing investigation of his daughter-in-law, who vanished from her West Valley home in December 2009. Powell's son, Josh Powell, was named a person of interest when his wife went missing.
Josh Powell said he took their two sons camping in single-digit temperatures in the early hours of Dec. 7, 2009 and when he returned a day and a half later, he said his wife was gone.
Josh Powell was never arrested. He moved into his father's home and lived there until Steven Powell's arrest. Josh Powell then rented a home in Graham, Wash. It was there that he killed himself and his two sons on Feb. 5, 2012, after setting fire to the home.