Decatur, AL-Robert James Bell is sitting behind bars in Decatur after he allegedly peered at women over bathroom stalls, but he is only charged with criminal surveillance and burglary. It may come as a surprise that "peeping" at people in inappropriate places is not illegal in Alabama. Watching someone can get you put in jail, but doing so for sexual gratification doesn't increase the penalty. State Senator Arthur Orr says this is a problem. “Alabama has not done what a lot of our sister states here in the southeast have done which is really tighten the laws for voyeurism,” he explained.
That is why Orr has introduced Senate Bill 148 which makes surveillance for sexual gratification an aggravating circumstance.
"Simple criminal surveillance is a Class B misdemeanor in Alabama which does not qualify for sex offender status,” explained Lieutenant John Crouch of the Decatur PD. “Anyone convicted of that regardless of the circumstances is not required to register as a sex offender.”
If the bill passes that will all change. Crouch says if offenders are forced to register it will be much easier for his department to keep the public safe. "Anyone engaged in this sort of activity certainly has the potential to escalate to other activities and we feel this will better enable us to keep track of these individuals." Business owner Janet South says she hopes the law changes soon. "I appreciate Senator Orr's efforts in trying to make this illegal; it astounds me that this is not illegal right now." She says as a business owner the thought of someone coming in her store, peering at her customers, and getting away with it is upsetting. “To think that someone would go into a women’s restroom and be peering over a stall is so disturbing to me,” she said. Orr filed the bill after learning of the problem in Decatur. He says those who violate the privacy of others should be punished. “For someone to come in and invade that privacy with a cell phone camera or a camera….or just by looking over the stall or whatever; ought to incense people and make them angry." The bill will be in committee Wednesday and may reach the Senate floor for a vote as early as this week. Bell is currently in the Morgan County Jail awaiting arraignment. The state of Michigan is also waiting to extradite him for similar crimes.
