A registered sex offender is locked up again on McNeil Island and the counselor assigned to him is on paid administrative leave after police found the two together in a Lakewood home.

Casper Ross is a registered sex offender, who lives in a special center at McNeil Island. He is allowed to leave for appointments and visits during the day, as long as he is with a counselor and his plan is approved in advance.

The state must also alert local police departments when a convicted sex offender from McNeil Island will be in their jurisdiction. Lakewood Police randomly checks up on these sex offenders to make sure they are where they say they're going to be, when they're supposed to be there and with their counselor.

An officer checked up on Ross Sunday afternoon. He knocked at the door of Ross' cousin's house where he was supposed to be, but nobody answered. A neighbor then told him to look around back. There, the officer found the state van the counselor uses to drive inmates. He again knocked - this time on the back door - but nobody came to the door.

The officer started knocking on the kitchen window, when he saw the female counselor come to the back door. The officer's report states that she appeared disheveled and was fixing her shirt. The officer also said Ross came out a bedroom, adjusting the belt from around his waist.

"There were indications that something was not quite right, when the officer saw these two people," said Lt. Steve Mauer with Lakewood police.

The officer said the relative was not home at the time, contrary to the plan Ross submitted for the visit.

KOMO 4 News went to the cousin's house to ask why, but was turned away at the door.

Casper Ross was convicted of rape with a deadly weapon in 1987. He spent 12 years in prison and now lives at the special commitment center on McNeil Island. He registered as a sex offender in Pierce County four years ago and, during the day, can leave the island with a counselor.

But following Sunday's incident, he will no longer be allowed off the island and will be kept confined, state spokesman Steve Williams told KOMO 4 News. Williams also said the female counselor is on paid administrative leave and under investigation.

Lakewood Police Chief Larry Saunders has written a letter to state officials, demanding answers. Saunders wants answers to the following questions:

Why was the transport van parked out of sight behind the home and not visible for ease of review by our patrol checks?

What was the approved purpose of this visit and if it was a home visit to relatives, why didn't the escort report immediately to supervisors when the relatives were not home and cancel the visit?

Why was Mr. Ross allowed an exclusive relationship with an escort and is there a sexual or other inappropriate relationship between the two?