A 50-year-old man wanted on charges of attempted rape of a child and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes was taken into custody without incident in the 5400 block of Delridge Way Southwest on October 27, ending a months-long search. Phillip Wayne Pitts was booked into King County Jail following the arrest.
According to KOMO, Pitts had missed a court hearing tied to the charges on February 23, prompting the King County Sheriff's Office to issue a felony warrant for his arrest that same day. The warrant set bond at $100,000 and was later adopted by the U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, which took over the search for him.
A Years-Long Case Tied To A 2024 Task Force Operation
Pitts was first arrested on April 5, 2024, during a regional operation led by the Washington Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which was hosted by the Seattle Police Department, the outlet's report notes. That task force includes multiple agencies focused on protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation, per the same account.
His failure to appear for the February hearing is what triggered the felony warrant and ultimately the manhunt that ended on Delridge Way.
Federal Task Force Specializes In Tracking Violent Offenders
The Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force adopted the warrant, while the U.S. Marshals Service made the arrest. The task force is described in the report as a partnership of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers from Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. That regional structure is what allowed marshals to pick up the case once local jurisdiction issued the warrant.
Readers hoping to track the status of Pitts's case directly can use the Washington Courts case-search tool, which lets the public look up cases by court level or by a person's name, with records updated within a 24-hour window. The King County Superior Court Clerk's Office also notes that its own Case Search portal will require users to log in starting June 19, 2026, though account creation remains free.
No further details about the outcome of the charges, the specifics of the alleged conduct, or Pitts's response to the allegations have been made public.
