Convicted Cop-Killer And Child Molester Violates Parole, Disappears

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He may look like just another washed-up mall Santa Claus, but police say that Paul Herman Clouston is the kind of guy that you want to keep far, far away from your kids.

He's worse than your typical dirty old man. Virginia police say that Paul H. Clouston, despite his grandfatherly appearance, is a hardened criminal who's got a thing for molesting little boys and girls.

Clouston started breaking the law back in the 1950s. His rap sheet included various counts of auto theft, burglary, and general mayhem. On September 21, 1972, he murdered Buena Park, Calif., Police Officer Darrel "Bud" Cate. After an extensive manhunt, police captured Clouston six days later. He was convicted and served time in a California prison.

After his parole on January 30, 1982, Clouston was back at it again. He served 11 years in Virginia prisons for various crimes. In 1993, a Virginia grand jury indicted Clouston on seventeen separate charges. A plea agreement led to all but seven charges being dropped. The grand jury still handed him 20 years to serve, but state law required that Clouston be released on parole last year.

The Virginia grand jury based its charges against Clouston on the testimony of nine kids, aged seven to fifteen, seven boys and two girls. According to victims' statements and testimony, Clouston offered the kids beer, cigarettes, and pornographic movies, suggested that he make photographs of one of the girls having sex with her boyfriend, and molested one of the boys.

And it wasn't the first time. Clouston's record as a sex offender stretches back to at least 1990, when he was picked up in Newport News on similar charges.

Dirty Laundry

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Authorities say this booking photo of Clouston was taken in 2003 by the Virginia Department of Corrections.

Paul Clouston didn't stick around Virginia too long. He was last seen on September 5, 2005 in the Williamsburg area. Friends and co-workers say that Clouston was fed up with his parole officer, and didn't like being told what to do. He frequently bragged about his past criminal exploits, and seemed to grow increasingly despondent.

Clouston set up shop in a local restaurant called the Country Buffet. He worked there doing odd jobs, and took his pay in cash. He also had his mail sent there, including several unclaimed Social Security checks.

Clouston apparantly took a liking to a local woman that may have done her laundry at the nearby "Soap and Suds." Patrons say that Clouston frequented a thrift shop two doors down from the laundromat. He bought several bicycles there, which cops believe may have been used as gifts to entice children.

"There Is No God"

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Do you recognize Clouston's profile?

Clouston made some other unsuspecting friends while in town. A local preacher took pity on him. Along the road to redemption, Clouston frequently stumbled, and frustrated the preacher by proclaiming: "There is no God." He told the preacher that he'd killed a cop, and would do it again to stay out of jail.

Church members say that they drove Clouston to a local Greyhound bus station in early September 2005. He told them that he was headed to Ohio to visit his daughter. He'd then spend the rest of his "golden years" somewhere out west.

Police say he is probably armed and should be considered dangerous.