Police: Accused molester caught after creeping, peeping into homes

ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13 - Police in St. Pete say they've caught the man who broke into a home this morning, startling a sleeping woman inside, then was later spotted spying on another woman as she was getting dressed.

It was around 7:15 a.m. when a woman called police to report that she had awoken on her couch to find a man standing over her.  The man, whom police said was dressed in "Spongebob clothing," ran from the home as the woman called police.

That scene was in the area of 21st Avenue S and 7th Street.  About 20 minutes later, a man was seen near 22nd Avenue S and 5th Street looking through the window of a home where a woman was getting dressed for work. As officers arrived, the man ran and was chased to a yard along 25th Avenue S.

That’s where police say he tried -- unsuccessfully -- to hide in a trash can and was arrested.

According to police, the man in both incidents was Steven Charles Kirkland, who was already wanted for two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under the age of 12 from back on January 22.  The 32-year-old is also a suspect in an indecent exposure case at Bay Vista Park that same day.

Kirkland now faces several new charges, including burglary and trespassing. 

Police fear there may be even more victims, though, and they are asking anyone with information to contact them.