Blog

Dec 18, 2023

Sex offenders in Oregon: Convicted rapist driving Pacific City's only cab divides tourist town

PACIFIC CITY -- The white-stenciled lettering on the side of the maroon minivan advertised Peter Shutt's business, the only cab in this tiny tourist town. He shuttled people home from watering holes

PACIFIC CITY -- The white-stenciled lettering on the side of the maroon minivan advertised Peter Shutt's business, the only cab in this tiny tourist town.

He shuttled people home from watering holes late at night, drove surfers and fishermen to the beach and delivered locals to doctor's appointments in nearby Lincoln City.

But Shutt's Cape Kiwanda Taxi service lasted just shy of three months before his past caught up with him.

Classified as a predatory sex offender for two rapes and an attempted rape involving three women he didn't know, Shutt and his makeshift cab bitterly divided the north Oregon coast community.

The sheriff and the high school principal distributed warnings about Shutt. The food bank restricted the hours that he could show up. Friendships frayed as critics argued that the convicted rapist shouldn't be alone with anyone in a van while supporters pointed to Shutt's clean record of more than 30 years.

Shutt fought back, taking out restraining orders against his most outspoken detractors. He told a judge that he was "making a last stand'' in Pacific City.

"I was going to prove to them that a person like me who hasn't reoffended should have the opportunity for life, liberty and the American dream," he said. "I paid my price."

Shutt's troubles illuminated the clash between society's desire to protect the public by holding sex offenders accountable and an offender's hope for a second chance long after serving prison time.

The controversy and its outcome aren't surprising to authorities who work to track registered sex offenders. Many of them -- especially those with a predator label -- face enormous challenges finding a job because of their pasts and often end up self-employed as a result or homeless because they can't pay their bills.

But rape victims and their advocates say that's the price Shutt and other sex offenders must pay -- just as the women they attacked must live with the humiliation of the assaults for the rest of their lives.

Listen to Shutt talk about the fallout in court:

Or download

.

To get a sense of the deep rift Shutt caused, you only have to walk along Pacific Avenue in this town of 1,000 people, better known for its laid-back pace, Pacific dory fleet and a brewpub with stunning ocean views.

Predatory sex offenders

As of June 30, 2014:

*

Oregon had 2,184 designated predatory sex offenders

- 8 percent of the state's total number of registered sex offenders.

*

Of the state's 2,184 predatory sex offenders,

623 are on the state police public website. That represents 2.3 percent of the total number of registered sex offenders, or 28.5 percent of the total number of designated predatory sex offenders.

Under state law, only predatory offenders that meet three criteria go on the public website: They must be designated as predatory sex offenders; authorities must have notified the community before the offender was released from prison; and they must be considered high-risk at the end of their most recent period of supervision.

Source: Oregon State Police Sex Offender Registration Section

Travis Ellis, who runs the Haystack Coffee and Kiwanda Surf Shop, was outraged when Shutt's criminal history came to light and even banned a few regulars from his shop who supported Shutt.

"It's scary to me that people were defending him. ... I don't want him in a cab and I want this town to realize this is a safety issue,'' Ellis said. "I put kids with boogie boards in cabs. ... What is the predatory list for if not to caution people?''

Mark McRae, owner of the True Value Hardware store, had no qualms about Shutt or his business. "I'm a Christian,'' McRae said. "I believe in redemption. I believe people do change.''

But he glanced out the front window of his store across the street to Haystack Coffee.

"He's a friend I no longer have,'' McRae said of Ellis.

The crimes

Shutt, now 57, bald and solidly built, was 25 when he committed his crimes in Bakersfield, Calif., in 1981. He was a married Mormon missionary who worked two jobs, welder in the day and waiter at night.

Two of his attacks occurred an hour apart, police reports show.

About 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 8, 1981, he pulled his blue Corvette alongside a 24-year-old woman who was warming up her car in the parking lot of a shopping center. Shutt got out and walked to the woman's car.

"I'm lost,'' he told the woman, according to police reports, and made the sign of the cross over his chest. "Honest.''

The woman rolled down her window. Shutt asked for directions, then suddenly leaned in, placed his left hand over her mouth and shoved a finger into her throat, the woman told police. He warned her that he had a pocketknife on him.

The woman put the car in gear and sped off. Shutt grabbed onto the door and was dragged about 100 feet before he let go. The woman called police.

But Shutt tried again.

About 1:30 a.m., he drove up to an 18-year-old woman stopped at a red light. He said he was from out of town and convinced her to pull over to a church parking lot to give him directions. The teen had been headed home from a night out roller-skating.

In the lot, Shutt pulled out a knife, put it to her throat and forced her from her car into his front seat. He drove to a secluded place and raped her repeatedly. Then he drove for about 100 yards and made her get out. She ran across a dirt field to the nearest home for help.

Police arrested Shutt later that day when the 18-year-old reported seeing his car again in town.

Police also linked Shutt to the sexual assault three months earlier of a 21-year-old woman he had met at a bar. He had offered to give her a ride home. Instead, he drove to an out-of-the-way spot and raped her, police said.

Shutt was convicted of the three attacks in 1983. A judge sentenced him to 12 years and four months in prison for two counts of rape with force, assault with the intent to commit rape and oral copulation. He served half the sentence and was released in 1989.

Just a year into his sentence, he wrote to a judge about his victims: "It grieves my soul to have stooped so low as to humiliate them. I have shed many a tear over it. The public has no reason to fear me, my lesson is learned. I know that the statistics indicate that offenders of my kind will repeat their crime; but I know that I am an exception.''

In a recent interview, he said he received counseling and "and then stayed away from alcoholic excesses and cocaine for the rest of my life,'' which he blamed for his crimes.

Move to Pacific City

Shutt first came to Oregon to visit a sister and registered his change of address with Portland police in September 2001.

Two months later, Oregon State Police designated Shutt as a predatory sex offender because his crimes were forcible rapes, they involved strangers, he had multiple victims and he used a knife or threatened to use a knife, said Jeff Clabaugh, manager of the agency's sex offender registration section.

Shutt was back in California by January 2002, but returned to Oregon in 2011 to be with his mother, who was about to be moved to hospice care in Yamhill County. Shutt stayed there until after his mother died and then moved to Pacific City, enamored of the coastal life. It reminded him of Newport Bay, where he had lived as a boy and was captivated by the dory fleet.

He bought a Zodiac inflatable boat and a camper and rented a site in an RV park. He registered his change of address with state police on April 1, 2013.

Tillamook County Sheriff Andy Long, who lives in Pacific City, passed out fliers, alerting business owners and residents to Shutt's classification as a predatory sex offender. The notices didn't create a stir until people saw Shutt operating his taxi.

Listen to Shutt talk in court about how he felt threatened:

Or download

.

Shutt had been crabbing and fishing and was living on Social Security benefits because of a mental health disability. He said he suffers from depression and mild schizophrenia.

"I felt safer out in the ocean than I did on land,'' he said.

But he got bored and wanted to make more money, so he started his own company after no one would hire him because of his record.

Taxi laws

In Oregon -- examples of some city's taxi driver exclusions:

Portland:

The city may not issue a taxi permit to people with a felony of any kind in the 10 years preceding their application or a felony involving physical harm or attempted physical harm, regardless of when the conviction occurred. They city also may not issue a permit to people convicted in the previous five years of any theft, robbery, burglary, assault, sex crimes, drugs, prostitution, weapons offense or any traffic crime, including driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving, attempting to elude a police officer or hit-and-run.

Eugene:

The city can deny or revoke a taxi license if a person was convicted of a felony within the preceding 10 years or other violations if they occurred within the preceding three years.

Tillamook:

The city will deny, revoke or suspend a taxi permit or license if any of these has occurred: felony conviction within the past five years, conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, conviction of a major traffic offense within the past five years, repeated violation of state laws, city ordinances or has driven a taxi under the influence of intoxicants or used a cab in the commission of a crime.

A friend suggested he provide taxi service to fill a void in town. Shutt researched if he could. In Oregon, municipalities regulate taxis. Some cities, like Portland and Tillamook, restrict violent felons from driving cabs or getting a cab license, but unincorporated Pacific City has no such restrictions.

Shutt didn't even need a business license. He simply registered his business name with Oregon's Secretary of State this past March. He said he also checked with the state police sex offender registration unit and found out he was clear to pursue his plan.

Shutt used stencils to turn his van into a taxi and parked it beside his camper in the Seascape RV Park, where he lived. He would drive up and down Cape Kiwanda Drive, the street that hugs the coast, and Pacific Avenue that cuts through the city's business district.

He passed out business cards and had help creating a website, advertising both land and water taxi rides.

"Don't waste vacation time trying to find a place to park or stuck on just one beach,'' it read. "Get in our van or water taxi and see the hidden wonders of the area.''

Town uproar

Sean Carleton, owner of the Ribcage Smokery and Twist Wine Company, said he was excited when he heard Pacific City was getting a taxi service. "We need one in town,'' he said. "But when I learned the owner's past, I was, 'Wait, this is not so exciting.'

"Everybody deserves a second chance,'' said Carleton, who kept the sheriff's flier on Shutt behind the counter to show his staff and customers. "But if a good friend of mine was a recovering alcoholic, I wouldn't take him to a bar.''

Local resident Gina Anderson researched Shutt's record and visited businesses, warning her friends not to get in his cab.

Shutt in turn filed a complaint with the sheriff and then went to court to get restraining orders against Anderson and two others who were denouncing him. He told a judge he felt threatened.

"I have an entire community that's hating on me,'' Shutt said in court. "I just want to put a stop to it.''

Dawn Koester, a software engineer who met Shutt through a friend, testified in his support. She said Shutt told her about his record before they went kayaking one day and gave her the number of his last parole officer should she have questions.

"My opinion was Pete was a really good guy with a really bad past,'' Koester said. She said those who spoke out against him never attempted to get to know him.

"I've lost friends over it,'' she said. "The people who were against him turned against me.''

Sex offenders as taxi drivers

Concerns about registered sex offenders driving taxis have surfaced elsewhere in the country.

Oswego, N.Y.

: In April, Oswego in upstate New York adopted an amendment to the city's taxicab law that requires anyone seeking a taxi driver's license to submit fingerprints and undergo a background investigation by the local police department. Applicants can be denied a license based on their criminal record. As of April, there were nine registered sex offenders driving cabs in Oswego, according to a councilman. When they go to renew their licenses, their applications will now be denied, according to the council.

Front Royal, Va.

: The town last fall drafted a proposed ordinance that would require applicants for taxi driver licenses to undergo criminal background checks and make sure drivers aren't convicted sex offenders. "There was one taxi company in particular that felt it was important to consumers that there be some mechanism in place to ensure taxi drivers are safe for consumers,'' said Town Attorney Douglas Napier. The council hasn't acted on the proposal yet.

Shutt was particularly perturbed that some people in town had dubbed him a child molester.

"I am a sex offender. What I am not is a pedophile or child molester. Those people never get forgiveness,'' he said in an interview. "My mistakes were made under the influence of drugs and alcohol. It's not because I was compelled to attack women. And I have not reoffended in 33 years.''

But Shutt's restraining orders only made things worse.

"I was flabbergasted,'' Anderson said. "I thought, 'Oh my God. There's a restraining order by a predatory sex offender against a 55-year-old woman who has not been in trouble with the law. This is just absurd. I feared for my life. This isn't the kind of city we do that in.''

Goodbye Pacific City

At the end of June, Shutt was evicted from the RV park because of a dispute with another resident.

Feeling defeated, he begrudgingly removed the taxi signs from his van, packed up and left town. He headed south to Lincoln City and parked his camper behind a Rite Aid.

"I was nursing my wounds,'' he said. "I was depressed. I was exhausted. I was an emotional wreck.''

Shutt's departure wasn't enough for Ellis and Anderson. They said they plan to push for stricter laws, particularly in rural communities like theirs, that would require background checks for drivers of taxis or other cars for hire and prevent anyone with a violent criminal record from driving one.

"It's not just about this town,'' Ellis said.

"When you get into a taxi or a boat, you should have a sense that the vehicle is safe,'' Anderson said. "But here, you don't even know. I think that's way uncalled for.''

Shutt now regrets having started a taxi service. "It was a bad decision,'' he said this month. "I wish I'd never gotten into it.''

As a sex offender who has registered for 25 years -- nearly half of his life -- Shutt said he understands the need for a registry. He said child molesters should be closely monitored because he believes many of them are "compelled to act out.''

But if a sex offender has completed parole without violations and has gone a long time -- say 10 to 20 years -- without reoffending, the person should be a candidate for removal from a public website, but remain on a registry, he said.

"Let police know where he lives,'' he said, "but let the public leave him alone.''

Shutt now lives out of his camper in McMinnville, receives mental health counseling and is trying to take Portland State University courses online.

He doesn't want to be around people.

"I'll always be persecuted. There's not forgiveness,'' said Shutt, who has a tattoo of a ball-and-chain on his left ankle. "It's a haunting thing to live with.''

-- Maxine Bernstein

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.