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Police: Convicted sex offender caught peeping, making sexual gestures at toddler

BOONE — The Boone Police Department was called to investigate a suspicious person on Sunday night. According to a release, officers located the suspicious person at a nearby bus stop. He was identified as Linville Wiles, 39, of Boone.

The caller told police Wiles had been caught peeping through two different windows at College Place Apartments.

When peeping in the first window, Wiles was seen by the resident making sexual gestures at her 2 ½-year-old daughter, according to police. Wiles was confronted while looking through the second window. Police said he responded by trying to sell the person who confronted him a food stamp card.

Officers took Wiles into custody and charged him with one count of misdemeanor secret peeping and one count of felony attempting to sell a food stamp card. Wiles was lodged in the Watauga County Jail under a $15,000 secured bond pending a July 7 appearance in Watauga County District court.

Wiles is a convicted sex offender in North Carolina. Boone police investigators are working with the Watauga County Sheriff's Office to determine if any more charges can be filed.