By KATHERINE PETERSEN
A 40-year-old man who allegedly staked out Cupertino schoolyards for children is charged with assaulting a 15-year-old San Jose girl at Pioneer High School May 31.
Philip Arthur McLuckie of Santa Clara, whom police called a three-time convicted sex offender, was arraigned June 5 on a charge of felony sexual assault after police saw him lead two girls into a secluded place and put the hand of one on his crotch.
"McLuckie was a sexual habitual offender, meaning the worst of the worst," said Sgt. Paul Gardner of the multi-jurisdictional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force. "We had been keeping an eye on this guy."
Gardner and his team followed McLuckie May 29 as he went to Lincoln Elementary School, Kennedy Junior High School and Monta Vista High School in Cupertino. Gardner said he would park his van and walk around the schools looking for children.
"He clearly is a predatory pedophile," Gardner said.
Gardner and his team followed McLuckie to Pioneer High School in San Jose the afternoon of May 31 and watched him park his car and hide in a secluded area behind the school.
"He hid in the bushes for an hour and a half until two teenage girls came at about 6:30 p.m. and sat in the bleachers, over the fence from where he was," Gardner said.
McLuckie then walked behind the bleachers and took off his shorts, under which he was wearing very tight Spandex, Gardner said.
He asked the girls to come to the rear of the school with him and help him do pull-ups.
"After the second one [pull-up], he dropped to the ground, grabbed the 15-year-old's hand and pulled it to his crotch," Gardner said.
McLuckie was arrested on the spot and taken to Santa Clara County Jail. Bail was set at $50,000.
"In our minds, there must be numerous other victims out there because of the predatory nature we've seen," Gardner said. He and his team have followed McLuckie to schools, arcades and parks.
McLuckie is married, but the task force knows of no children.
Anyone with any information on other assaults tied to McLuckie should contact 299-2211.
McLuckie is described as a white man, six feet tall, weighing 155 pounds. He has light brown hair and blue eyes.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 12, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.