When it comes to sex crimes involving minors, the penalties are harsh if you are convicted. We hear about child pornography found on computers, or solicitation over the internet, etc. But a recent case in the Orlando/Central FL area doesn’t quite fall into any of these.
A 79-year-old man was sentenced to five years of probation after an under-aged foreign-exchange student from Germany found a spy camera in the bathroom. The man pleaded guilty to “video voyeurism” and is prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with minors. This was all part of his plea agreement. He was arrested last year after the German teenager told police he discovered the camera hidden in a clock in the bathroom, which was secretly recording him.
The man was accused of doing the same type of spying on other foreign-exchange students staying with him. As if the criminal case wasn’t bad enough, a civil lawsuit was also filed by one of the teenagers’ mother, who’s seeking damages in excess of $15,000. According to the civil lawsuit, the teen “had an expectation of privacy” while in the home. The suit alleges that Lindquist’s actions “caused severe emotional distress” to the student and “were extreme and outrageous.”
Allegations such as these are devastating for all involved. In some cases allegations of voyeurism can result from mistakes, misunderstandings, or possibly even false accusations. Filming a person without their knowledge, without any sexual intent, may still be considered illegal, but it may not be exactly “criminal voyeurism”. What if the camera was in place for security surveillance.
Nevertheless, any type of sex crime charge is serious enough that you will need a criminal defense attorney with experience in handling such a case.