15-year sentence in Olympia underwear theft case

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A man who pleaded guilty to charges related to underwear thefts was sentenced Tuesday in Olympia to 15 years in prison.

Fifty-nine-year-old Royce Baxter of Long Beach denied he was a threat but apologized in court, saying he committed terrible transgressions because of his obsession with a co-worker.

The Olympian reports Baxter pleaded guilty in September to burglary, stalking and harassment charges.

Baxter is a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife employee who had worked with his victim at the Willapa Wildlife Refuge in the 1990s.

Court papers say the married woman had no idea Baxter was obsessed with her until her house was broken into several times. He may have broken into her home as many as 28 times over a dozen years.