Calese Crowder, the convicted sex offender known as California’s “butt sniffer,” has been sentenced to 170 days in county jail for violating his parole.
Crowder, 39, was arrested on August 28 after Glendale police received reports of a man behaving suspiciously and bending down near female customers at multiple businesses in the area. Officers responded to one store where witnesses described seeing a man “hunkered down” and getting close enough to smell people.
Surveillance footage obtained by Eyewitness News appears to show the man crouching down near an employee who was stocking shelves at Big Sav Discount Store. After identifying Crowder as the man in the footage, police tracked him down and arrested him for violating the terms of his parole.
The 39-year-old first became known as the “butt sniffer” after a video went viral on TikTok in August 2023, appearing to show him following a woman around a Barnes & Noble in Burbank, before crouching down low behind her and attempting to smell her buttocks without her knowledge.
That clip brought him the most notoriety, but it was far from his only offense.
After the TikTok video spread, multiple women came forward alleging similar incidents in stores around the Glendale and Burbank area. During that same period, however, Glendale police were investigating Crowder for a much more serious offense.
Around the same time as the viral video, Crowder was accused of peeping into a family home while children were present. He was arrested, and the Glendale Police Department issued a statement naming him as a person of interest in related cases.
Police records describe Crowder as a convicted sex offender who has been on parole after being convicted for burglary, with a pattern of lewd behavior reported from at least 2021.
According to the LA Times, former LA Lakers player Robert Horry’s wife previously alleged that Crowder had been stalking their daughter. The publication reports that Crowder did serve prison time during that period, though details of his charges could not be confirmed.
Crowder’s rap sheet includes multiple arrests for allegedly sniffing the rear ends of females in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California. His parole conditions were notably specific, reflecting the distinctive nature of his repeated offenses.
The August 28 arrest came after police were informed of his suspicious behavior at several different businesses. The surveillance footage from Big Sav Discount Store provided the evidence that led officers to identify and locate him.
His 170-day sentence in county jail represents the consequence of failing to abide by those strict parole terms.
The case has drawn significant attention due to the unusual nature of the crimes and the viral video that first brought Crowder public infamy. The TikTok footage from Barnes & Noble in Burbank showed behavior that would become the signature element of his alleged pattern.
The Glendale Police Department’s ongoing investigations have linked him to various incidents in the region, with the peeping accusation involving children present representing the most serious allegation in the file.