A convicted sex offender told detectives that peeping on young boys in public restrooms was a “hobby” for him and "his record was 35 or 38 times in a day."
Michael Manske, 48, of Hill County, faces new federal child pornography charges after police raided his ranch near Hillsboro and found child pornography on his computer, according to a federal criminal complaint filed on Wednesday.
Manske was arrested at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in May after someone complained he had been going from bathroom to bathroom and looking down on young boys using urinals.
Three weeks later, he was arrested again at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Jeff Taylor, a racing fan from North Richland Hills, said he noticed Manske peeping on his 10-year-old son in a racetrack bathroom.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I see this man pass by about eight urinals to go stand next to my son,” Taylor said. “So, I mean, a red flag went up immediately -- parent's intuition. I mean, something's not right about that. And I looked over, and he's looking down at him.”
Taylor said he followed Manske but lost him in the crowd.
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When Taylor’s son spotted Manske about an hour later, Taylor said he tried to stop him but Manske fled.
"And I chased him at least three gates away,” Taylor said. “And he's yelling back at me the whole time that he's just going to leave. And I'm like, 'No you're not. You're going to be held accountable for what you did. You are not leaving.'"
Taylor said he held Manske by the neck until police arrived.
Manske was arrested for disorderly conduct -- peeping.
His criminal record dates back to 2006, when he was convicted of misdemeanor criminal trespass for looking at boys in the bathroom at Dragon Stadium. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
In 2009, Manske was arrested for indecent exposure after the manager at the Main Event in south Fort Worth reported seeing Manske follow young boys into the restroom and later saw him masturbating at a urinal, according to court records.
Manske was convicted. As part of his sentence, a judge ordered Manske not to associate with children younger than 17 years old, to stay away from places where children gather and to undergo sexual misconduct counseling.
He registered as a convicted sex offender but was dropped off the list when his probation ended March 23.
After the incident in June at Texas Motor Speedway, he told a Fort Worth police detective that he enjoyed peeping on young boys, according to a federal criminal complaint.
“He stated he likes to see how many he can see,” the detective wrote.
Manske also told the detective “his record was 35 or 38 in a day," the complaint said.
His laptop computer contained graphic images of young children, police said, and he was charged in federal court with possession of child pornography.
The new charges were added this week to other pornography charges that were filed after police examined his cell phone after his arrest in Arlington.
Taylor said he was surprised that Manske still found a way to be around children after several previous arrests.
"You know, it kind of makes you sick to think that this guy is able to go and obtain these sporting tickets to events like that and hang out in front of restrooms, and that's all he was doing,” Taylor said.
The peeping charges were misdemeanors but, if convicted of the new federal pornography charges, Manske could spend years in prison.
