Warrant issued after Vancouver man fails to appear in case involving teen boy

A bench warrant was issued Tuesday for a 50-year-old man accused of approaching a 15-year-old boy at an east Vancouver gym in 2019 and offering to pay him to make sexually explicit images.

Donovan Eugene Fairley of Vancouver was supposed to appear in Clark County Superior Court on a summons for communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Judge Robert Lewis authorized the warrant after Fairley failed to appear.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, the teen reported Fairley approached him Oct. 12, 2019, in the locker room of Crunch Fitness, 811 S.E. 160th Ave., and asked his age. To which, Fairley said he didn’t look 15. Fairley asked the teen if he’d be interested in earning $100 for masturbating on camera.

They exchanged phone numbers, and the boy subsequently told his mother and Vancouver police.

A sergeant took over the teen’s phone and began texting with Fairley as if he was the boy. They discussed Fairley’s proposal, and he was once again told the boy’s age, the affidavit states.

Fairley was arrested at his apartment complex later that day. He told police he has a side business of finding models and actors to feature in pornography and initially believed the teen was 18 or 19, according to the affidavit.

In the affidavit, police noted a 2018 complaint in which a friend accused Fairley of voyeurism, as well as a 2019 police report in which Fairley allegedly approached a 17-year-old boy at a grocery store and asked him about “doing porn.” It does not appear he was criminally charged in either case.

The affidavit doesn’t indicate why Fairley was to appear on a summons in this case, rather than closer to when he was initially arrested.