Volusia County Teacher Receives 5 Years in Prison for Video Voyeurism

A 34-year-old Volusia County Catholic-school teacher was sentenced to five years in prison Monday for secretly filming middle-school girls undressing.

The man will receive credit for the 299 days spent in jail while awaiting trial. Upon his release, he must serve five years of probation.

The DeLand teacher apologized to the court for hiding pen cameras inside a school closet and capturing video of girls younger than 16 in a state of undress.

The man was arrested in April after he lost his laptop and asked a police officer for help tracking the device down. The officer recovered the missing laptop using tracking software, and found the man’s computer contained nude images of young girls.

A circuit judge ordered the former teacher to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation and treatment, take an annual polygraph test and to not have contact without anyone younger than 18 without approval from his probation officer.

Additionally, he is banned from ever working at a school or participating in school events.

The crime of video voyeurism can involve many scenarios, but mostly revolve around a person who watches or films a person in a place where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. You can be charged with voyeurism for peeping into a person’s home or placing a recording device in a dressing room, locker room or bathroom in order to capture images of someone every time they use the facility. Despite the facts surrounding a voyeurism charge, it is always in your best interest to enlist the help of a Florida Sex Crimes Lawyer as soon as possible. While these offenses are on the low end of the sex crimes spectrum, this does not mean the prosecution will not takes these charges seriously.

In order to be convicted of video voyeurism, the prosecution must clearly demonstrate several things:

1. The accused surreptitiously observed or filmed the victim.
2. The act was carried out with a lewd, lascivious or indecent intent.
3. The victim was in a dwelling, structure or conveyance in which he or she had a reasonable expectation of privacy at the time the accused was watching or recording their actions.

The penalties attached to a video voyeurism conviction can vary in severity. When an adult is accused of recording a victim under the age of 16, this crime is classified as a second-degree felony, regardless of whether the accused was aware of the victim’s age. Any adult over the age of 18 that is convicted of filming a child under the age of 16 will be required to register as a sexual offender.

As with any type of sex crime, there are lots of innocent people that get accused of video voyeurism every day. If you or someone you care about has been accused of or charged with voyeurism, you must act fast and speak with a Florida Voyeurism Defense Attorney at Whittel & Melton immediately. Contact us online or call us statewide and toll-free at 866-608-5529 to begin receiving the help you need to beat these charges.