Edward Stokes, 49, had been freed April 7 from a California prison where he had been serving a life sentence. A court threw out his child molestation conviction because he was unable to confront his accuser, who committed suicide.

Stokes was arrested at a laundry in Gresham, near Portland, and is accused of providing a false address to obtain a Washington state driver's license. The charges are minor, but police throughout the metropolitan area were relieved to know where Stokes was.

"A woman was doing her laundry, and she recognized him and his van," said Officer Grant McCormick, Gresham police spokesman. "She went home and called us from there."

Stokes was questioned at Gresham police headquarters, then taken to the Multnomah County Jail in Portland, where he will remain until he either waives extradition to Washington state or has an extradition hearing.

Police impounded the Ryder van Stokes was driving, which had a mattress, rain gear and other items inside.

Authorities have described Stokes as one of the worst sexual predators on the West Coast. In a letter to a therapist in the early 1990s, Stokes said he had molested 212 victims and felt like a monster.

Stokes had been convicted of assaulting Blue Karak, 16, in 1996, after meeting the boy in a Seattle coffeehouse. Karak committed suicide before Stokes' trial.

Stokes had been arrested at least five times in Washington and Oregon on sex charges dating from 1974. In 1995, he completed a three-year sentence in Oregon for sex abuse and sodomy.