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Lenses in Low Places as Voyeurs Skirt Law

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WASHINGTON POST

Police have this warning for Washington women: Beware of geeks bearing tiny cameras.

In what they describe as a growing trend, police are beginning to catch video voyeurs trying to shoot private parts in public places. These men are aiming the latest compact camcorders up women’s skirts in crowded stores and shopping malls, parks and fairs--and often posting the pictures on the Internet.

Fairfax County, Va., police arrested a 21-year-old man who was holding a palm-sized video camera under a woman’s dress at a Tower Records store in late May. Two weeks earlier at a Hecht’s department store, Alexandria, Va., police nabbed a 19-year-old man toting a bulky VHS video camera. He was angling for similar shots in the china department, they said. At last year’s Fairfax Fair, a man was arrested for videotaping from a camera bag dangling on a long strap down to his ankles.

“I had one guy who was doing it on Metro trains,” said Alexandria Detective Harold Duquette, who tracked the suspect’s movements across the region by watching days’ worth of his videotapes. “I mean, he was in D.C. [District of Columbia]. He was in tunnels. He was sitting on benches. He had one lady reading the newspaper.”

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What began as a small photo gallery on the Internet a couple of years ago has rapidly expanded to more than 40 such “upskirt” sites, including one devoted entirely to shots taken up skirts in Maryland, said Duquette, who has been tracking the trend.

Through the Internet, many of these video peepers learn about new techniques and exchange stories, Duquette said. The most popular method, he said, is concealing a small video camera in a shoulder bag, with the lens pointing out of the top. The bag is either dangled under a woman’s skirt or set on the ground next to her.

Getting the desired shot is apparently a bit of a challenge.

“Mall upskirts can be a pain to get!” someone identified only as “Willie” recently wrote on the Internet. “I spotted the girl walking quickly towards the shoe store. . . . Thought I was going to get the killer shots of the year. Got home, checked, and now I see that my wonderful bag’s straps partially block the view.”

Police say this type of voyeur, like the more traditional peeping Tom, can progress to more serious sexual offenses. Because the phenomenon is so new, there are few laws on the books to deal with it.

Officials in the District and Maryland say they do not have a law that specifically fits the crime, unless the person assaults the victims or stalks them. Peeping Tom statutes relate to peering into dwellings, not up skirts.

In Virginia, police are using a relatively new state law--”unlawful filming, videotaping or photographing of another”--to prosecute people caught putting their lenses where they’re not wanted. The statute, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail, was written in 1994 and applies to circumstances in which victims had a “reasonable expectation of privacy,” according to prosecutors.

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Police believe there will be more arrests for this type of offense as people become aware of the problem.

Duquette says that security guards, who are on the lookout for shoplifters, are becoming adept at spotting the peeping Toms.

At Landmark Mall in Alexandria, the man with the VHS video camera strapped to his shoulder at Hecht’s caught a security guard’s attention.

“I observed the subject place the camera under a woman’s dress,” the guard, Charles Taylor, stated on the arrest warrant. “I asked the subject if he was videotaping underneath the woman’s dress. The subject said yes.”

Officials in many jurisdictions, including Prince William County, Va., say they haven’t made any such arrests--and many weren’t even aware of such behavior.

“Thanks for the warning,” said Kim Chinn, a Prince William County police spokeswoman. “Next time I go to the mall, I’m wearing jeans.”

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