Governor signs bill to expand 'peeping Tom' law

By ANGEL RIGGS World Capitol Bureau
4/19/2008

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Gov. Brad Henry signed a bill Friday that expands the state's "peeping Tom" law to include the use of electronic equipment to capture images of private areas of unsuspecting people.

Tulsa Police Sgt. Gary Stansill said the action "sends a good, clear message to future perpetrators that this kind of behavior won't be tolerated. Whereas they may have gotten by with it in the past, that won't be the case in the future."

The law not only will help law enforcement authorities keep up with the times but also with the "ingenu ity that offenders come up with," Stansill said.

"We have to match that, and this law does that," he said.

House Bill 2606 was sponsored by Rep. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa. It passed both chambers of the Legislature unanimously. The bill makes it a misdemeanor to use photographic, electronic or video equipment in a clandestine manner to view or capture an image of a person's private areas without the person's consent.

The law, which goes into effect Nov. 1, applies in both public and private places.

People convicted under the law would face as much as one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Peterson said, "It's a bill that has caught up with technology."

She said the law is patterned after the federal voyeurism act.

Tulsa has had several recent cases that would have been affected by the law.

A charge was dismissed last year against a man who was arrested for taking photographs of a 16-year-old girl at a Target store by situating a camera underneath her skirt.

The courts ruled that he did not violate the law because the statute limited violations to incidents that occurred in usually private areas, such as locker rooms, restrooms, tanning booths and homes.

A felony charge was dismissed Monday against a man who was accused of using his cell phone to try to take a picture under a woman's dress at a Sand Springs grocery store.

Angel Riggs (405) 528-2465
angel.riggs@tulsaworld.com

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