Police: Peephole In Children's Dressing Room Not Illegal

thekansascitychannel. ^

[chance33_98]

Police: Peephole In Children's Dressing Room Not Illegal

Mother Claims Girl Spied Upon, Will File Civil Suit

POSTED: 10:12 p.m. CST January 17, 2003 UPDATED: 10:33 p.m. CST January 17, 2003

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police said that even if someone did spy on a 10-year-old girl while she changed clothes in a local department store dressing room, no crime was committed.

The girl's mother, however, does not agree.

Theresa Heckman, the girl's mother, noticed a hole in the dressing room wall while her daughter was changing clothes. Heckman claims she saw an eye behind that hole, and then a finger try to cover it up.

"I screamed, I yelled, I kicked the wall, I hit the wall. If i could have barelled through the wall I would have," Heckman said.

Heckman took photographs and reported the incident to police.

After an investigation, Detective Richard Neumann said that because the girl's vagina and breasts were not exposed, the department could not pursue the matter further.

"In this particular case, since the child had her shirt on and her panties on; none of those were exposed. So we do not have a violation of the statute," Neumann said.

Theresa plans to file a civil suit against the Sears department store for what happened in the dressing room.

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[KayEyeDoubleDee]

"If i could have barelled through the wall I would have," Heckman said.

Oh, I bet if you tried ...

[Texas Eagle]

Wow. You see the size of that girl? You wouldn't be able to see her with just a peephole. You'd have to drill a porthole.

[chance33_98]

Them's some cold hearted comments :) Got more!? BWAHAHAHAHAHA

[Linwood]

Anyone who would peep at that girl, or her mom, isn't mentally competent enough to be held accountable for his or her actions...

[KineticKitty]

And I wonder why some people think FR is childish and hateful. A joke is a joke, I have a sense of humor also. But at what point do we draw the line?

I was going to debate the merits of privacy laws etc, but after reading all the comments, what's the point in doing it here?

[apackof2]

Ok legally doesn't this girl have an expectation of privacy in a ladies dressing room?

[ProudGOP]

What's to debate? Seems like a slam dunk for the girl and her mom to me.

The attitude of the Police would just make me more determined to see justice done.

[DoughtyOne]

I would think the same rules that convict peeping toms looking in through windows into homes, would apply here. Isn't that a sex crime that requires registration? Also, since when does a peeping tom have to see someone in the nude for it to count? If he's watching a woman or child disrobing, it isn't to see if she's a regular customer.

[Bonaparte]

Yes, she does have an expectation of privacy, IMO. Otherwise, why would a dressing room have walls and a door that latches? Why not just change right out in the open? If the facts are as stated, I think this girl's mother will have no difficulty at all exacting a fairly generous settlement from Sears.

[Bonaparte]

Even if the police were correct in their interpretation of state law, Sears would settle anyway just to avoid the embarassment of bad publicity.

[garyhope]

Say, wasn't Bill Clinton sighted in Missouri around that time?

[Linwood]

There, there. We apologizes for our meanspiritedness... yessss, we doesssss!

[KineticKitty]

Gee, Welcome to FRee Republic Linwood.

Congratulations on your great start. You should be proud of yourself. Most people find themselves defending their beliefs or their side of the debate, not their childish behavior.

[KineticKitty]

Ok legally doesn't this girl have an expectation of privacy in a ladies dressing room?

Yes she most certainly does.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Theres some things you just dont joke about this is one of them !