Focus is on photographer with an eye for cheerleaders

Omaha.com ^ | 02.06.03

[Coleus]

Focus is on photographer with an eye for cheerleaders

BY STU POSPISIL

LINCOLN - Metro Conference athletic directors and the Nebraska School Activities Association will be watching their high school basketball sidelines more closely after Omaha police detained a 74-year-old man for training a camera on high school cheerleaders.

Omaha Marian Athletic Director Jim Miller said Wednesday that cheerleaders from his school became uncomfortable because of the man's apparent picture-taking at a Jan. 30 girls basketball game at Omaha South.

Miller said the girls alerted Marian's dean of students, who told South administrators. School officials called police, who interviewed the man. The man told authorities that he was a fan of Omaha Marian and Omaha Creighton Prep and was just there to observe the game.

Sgt. Dan Cisar said police took an information report, and the man was ordered to leave the building.

The girls later told Miller they had seen the man at other games.

The man could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

School officials have expressed concerns to the NSAA that if photographs of cheerleaders were taken, they could end up being sold to a Web site that contains pornographic or offensive material.

Copies of a photograph of the man, taken from South's video security monitoring system, were distributed this week at the Metro Conference's monthly meeting of athletic directors.

The man's photo also was sent to the NSAA because of its state basketball tournaments at various sites in Lincoln next month. The girls state tournament is March 6 through 8, and the boys tournament is March 13 through 15.

NSAA Assistant Director Jim Angele said copies of the photo have been forwarded to floor managers at the tournament sites in Lincoln.

"We hope this person won't show up at the state tournament," Angele said. "We'll have to police our sidelines more to make sure only those with credentials are there."

The NSAA does not have a uniform policy regarding the management of spectators at sporting events, other than to ask for good sportsmanship. The obligation to police spectators is left up to individual schools. That means school administrators can decide whether to prohibit admission to a particular spectator. It is common at events such as high school basketball games to see numerous school staff in attendance for the sole purpose of monitoring the crowd.

Miller said amateur photographers, such as family members, may be asked to provide identification if not recognized by officials of the host school.

"We're telling our workers that if they don't know somebody taking photographs, they may want to check it out," Miller said. "It's not a good situation for someone to be going to games and taking photos of cheerleaders only. It sends up a red flag."

[Coleus]

Who knows, I guess it's akin to the hate crime laws. It's what the authorities perceive what you think even though no crime was committed and nobody was hurt. In this case, it's a dirty old man (their perception) taking pictures of fully-clothed girls in a public area--so, by mere thoughts you throw out the 4th and 5th amendment out the window because a parent complained.

[Cultural Jihad]

From the article:

Miller said the girls alerted Marian's dean of students, who told South administrators. School officials called police, who interviewed the man. The man told authorities that he was a fan of Omaha Marian and Omaha Creighton Prep and was just there to observe the game.

Sgt. Dan Cisar said police took an information report, and the man was ordered to leave the building.

And here:

The NSAA does not have a uniform policy regarding the management of spectators at sporting events, other than to ask for good sportsmanship. The obligation to police spectators is left up to individual schools. That means school administrators can decide whether to prohibit admission to a particular spectator. It is common at events such as high school basketball games to see numerous school staff in attendance for the sole purpose of monitoring the crowd.

[Coleus]

Who knows what he is, there is absolutely no evidence. Just like Hate crimes, guilt by association without any evidence.

[Tamzee]

This might have fallen under legal restrictions that forbid taking pictures of minors and then publishing them without a parent's consent.

[Kevin Curry]

Bull. Lame. You got caught lusting for government action again and you know it, now you're trying to 'crawdad' out of it. Won't work.

Here's an idea. Simply grant the fathers, brothers, boyfriends, and concerned associates of the cheerleaders license and immunity to beat the old pervert with baseball bats.

That should work. No government at all. It would surely satisfy your libertarian demands.

[Coleus]

He was caught molesting a neighbor's son>>>

That is an action and a crime, so far the old fart did nothing wrong by taking a few pictures and I say shame on the lawmen for not then doing something about it. All they did was ban him from attending the events. If he truly is a criminal, they should have investigated things further and charged him with something.

[Coleus]

I've seen it>>

And what does this mean?

[SuziQ]

Aqualung?

[Coleus]

?

[Arkinsaw]

I see where the man was ordered to leave the building. I still don't see how anyone there had the authority to order any such thing.

I also see the part about the policy. The policy basically says that they will prohibit admission to anyone that the school administrator decides who they don't want. Unfortunately for the NSAA that would never stand up. Just because the school administrator doesn't like blacks he cannot prohibit them admission to a public event. Just because he does not like people who wear NRA t-shirts he can't prohibit them admission to a public event. Likewise, he can't prohibit someone because they are of a certain age and gender and are taking photographs.

[Arkinsaw]

Here's an idea. Simply grant the fathers, brothers, boyfriends, and concerned associates of the cheerleaders license and immunity to beat the old pervert with baseball bats

How about you just lynch anyone over 60 with a camera. Just to be sure.

[SuziQ]

You don't remember the Jethro Tull song, "Aqualung"? It was about a dirty old man sitting on a park bench watching little girls.
Maybe you're not old enough. It was a big hit back in the day (late 60s).

[The FRugitive]

No ogling the cheerleaders!

[Cultural Jihad]

I missed the part wherein blacks and NRA members are being kicked out of school functions.

[demosthenes the elder]

I beg to differ: In a sane culture, either: the jailbait females would be modestly dressed instead of nearly naked, or... the general society would recognize that people will look at what is on display and not get their panties in a twist.

[Tamzee]

Because I lecture and teach on this topic, I've been working with issues related to child sexual exploitation and child porn on the Internet since 1986.

I'm the only gal on this page, this was years ago when I started as a volunteer.

http://www.ncmec.org/html/news_cyberphotos.html

So.... I KNOW how pics like that might be used, I KNOW they can pose a direct danger to the child/minor/cheerleader/swimmer/baseball player, etc... And I've seen 60 pedophiles all discussing a particular picture one has shared with the others and the types of actions they discuss wishing to perform on that child. If the "photographer" cares to share the name of the school and location where he took the picture, the MINOR is very vulnerable.

[Cultural Jihad]

The ACLU supports his 1st Amendment penumbra right to harass minor children.

[demosthenes the elder]

"sitting on a park bench//eying little girls with bad intent"
"little girls" in a park are not quite the same thing as nubile high-schoolers wearing airbrushed-on lycra.
when interesting things are packaged for display, the showroom owner cannot justly get upset if people take a look.

[MississippiMan]

I wonder if there's some part of this story we're not seeing here? On its face, it's stupid sounding, but for this kind of fuss, perhaps there's another angle we just don't know yet. Who knows.

MM