PIERZ (AP) -- Mike Poepping spent four months in jail this spring and summer for watching and videotaping his stepdaughter through a two-way mirror in the bathroom over six years.
The day after he got out of jail, the former Minnesota Twins player -- who batted .135 in 14 games with the team in 1975 -- was caught trying to get another glimpse of Sara Oldakowski's naked body.
"I did it," Poepping, 52, said last week outside the Morrison County Government Center courtroom. But inside the courtroom, his attorney denied that Poepping had violated his probation, which ordered him to stay at least one mile away from his stepdaughter at all times. Poepping, also accused of violating a protection order, remains free on bail.
"During the time I was in jail, I just got very depressed and lonely. ... I still have feelings for her and the family.
"I'm really sorry. I have this addiction. It's worse than alcohol," Poepping told the St. Cloud Times.
The apology means little to family members, who want him back in jail and believe he has been treated favorably by county officials because of his sports hero status.
"I know right now in my mind, Morrison County isn't going to do anything to the great Mike Poepping," said Theresa Poepping, Oldakowski's mother, who divorced Poepping following his August 2001 arrest after six years of marriage.
"It's always been a high-profile case in the sense that's it's unusual," said Brian Middendorf, assistant county attorney prosecuting Poepping's case. "Clearly, he needs to be punished for what he did. Our goal is to strike a balance of relief and treatment. Everyone has rights. Everything seems to drag on, but it's the nature of the business we're in."
Meanwhile, as a peeping victim, Oldakowski is seeking to change Minnesota's laws on video voyeurism, which she says are too lenient.
"It's like, this is the job I got picked for," Oldakowski said. "Hopefully, I'm going to work on getting a law going against video voyeurism and awareness of that, because there's so much going on."
Since she learned last August that she had been videotaped, Oldakowski has gone through counseling and dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts.
"When it first happened, I didn't want to talk to anybody," said Oldakowski. "I didn't want to see people I knew."
She altered her appearance by dying her hair. She often wears hooded sweat shirts. She said she checks mirrors everywhere she goes to make sure they aren't two-way.
She said her stepfather, who has tried to telephone her, took away her identity, so she's trying to create a new one.
"After you find out that someone's been watching you, nothing's the same," she said. "Everything you do, you feel like you're being watched."
Poepping was charged with four counts of interference with privacy last year. Through a plea agreement reached earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to two counts.
Judge Thomas Godzala gave him 185 days in jail and a $4,000 fine. He served 120 days, with time off for good behavior, and had all but $1,200 of the fine stayed. He also received work release privileges, meaning he basically stayed in jail nights and on weekends. He got out of jail July 5 and later the next day family members discovered him hiding near their house outside Sara's bedroom.
Poepping said that he went to a medical doctor after the new allegations surfaced and was put on anti-depressants and sleeping pills. He said he works, attends counseling sessions and goes to church. Otherwise, he said, he never ventures out.
"I know they've been through a lot of emotions," Poepping said. "But I've never hurt the kids, and I've never hurt Terri physically."
Because Poepping's alleged offense is only considered a gross misdemeanor, the most jail time Poepping could get would be one year for each count.
